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v 

THE 



LIFE AND LETTERS 



OF 



EMORY UPTON, 

Colonel of the Fourth Regiment of Artillery, and 
Brevet Major-General, U. S. Jrmy. 



BY 

PETER S. MICHIE, 

PROFESSOR U. S. MILITARY ACADEMY. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION 

BY 

JAMES HARRISON WILSON, 

LATE U. S. A. 



ji-m,^ 



.1'- 



NEW YORK: 
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 

I, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET. 
1885. 



Em 

■TJl 



Copyright, 1S85, 
By SARA K. UPTON. 



TO 

DANIEL UPTON. 

AND 

ELECTA UPTON, his wife, 

THE HONORED PARENTS OF 

EMORY UPTON, 

THIS MEMOIR IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. 



PREFACE. 



The subject of the following memoir was wide- 
ly known by reputation in the military profession, 
and the story of his life would, at least to military 
men, have been a matter of passing interest. The 
tragic circumstances of his death seemed to de- 
mand some explanation in harmony with his estab- 
lished reputation and character. At the earnest 
solicitation of his nearest relatives, the author, 
although conscious of his own deficiencies, under- 
took the task of compiling a brief record of Gen- 
eral Upton's life for his family and immediate per- 
sonal friends. 

In overstepping the limits at first proposed for 
the work, and in extending its circulation to the 
general public, the author has been guided by two 
considerations : First, the hope that the lessons 
drawn from General Upton's life might be valu- 
able to the youths who may hereafter enter the 
military profession, brought about a modification of 
its original plan, and necessitated the omission of 
much that was of purely family interest ; second, 



vi Preface. 

Upton's valuable researches into the military policy 
of his country, and the essential influence which 
his conclusions will have upon its future military 
organizations, seemed to warrant the wider pub- 
licity which is now attempted. 

Although the volume has been written while the 
author has been engaged in official duties of a 
somewhat exacting nature, his task has been great- 
ly lessened by the abundant material placed at his 
disposal. Whatever excellence the book contains, 
the author gratefully acknowledges to be due to 
the wise counsel and able criticism of his friend 
General J. H. Wilson. Whatever defects honest 
criticism may note in the matter retained, method 
of presentation, or style of expression, are to be 
charged to the inexperience of the author, whose 
only qualification for the assumed task was a sin- 
cere desire to judge rightly and deal justly with 
the character of his friend and comrade. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction ix 



CHAPTER I. 
Boyhood i 

CHAPTER II. 
Cadet-Life at West Point lo 

CHAPTER III. 
Active Service as a Subaltern 42 

CHAPTER IV. 
Service as a Regimental and Brigade Commander . . 66 

CHAPTER V. 
Service as Division Commander of Cavalry . . . 130 

CHAPTER VI. 
Service in Colorado — Tactics 179 

CHAPTER VII. 
Marriage 217 



viii Contents. 

CHAPTER VIII. 



PAGE 



Commandant of Cadets 242 

CHAPTER IX. 
Military Observations and Studies in Foreign Lands , 284 

CHAPTER X. 
Report on the Armies of Europe and Asia . . . 388 

CHAPTER XI. 
The Military Policy of the United States . . , 416 

CHAPTER XII. 

Professional Views on Military Legislation, and Final 

Revision of Tactics 454 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Death 474 



INTRODUCTION. 



It was my good fortune to know Emory Upton 
from the date of his entry into the Military Acad- 
emy at West Point, as a mere stripHng, in 1856, to 
the time of his death, in the full maturity of his 
manhood, in 1881. His class was next to mine, 
graduated less than a year afterward, and entered 
the army at the outbreak of the great rebellion. 
We served together during the Antietam campaign ; 
then in Grant's memorable series of operations from 
the Rapidan to Petersburg ; then with Sheridan in 
the Valley of Virginia; and, finally, in the cavalry 
campaign from Waterloo through Alabama and 
Georgia, ending in the last battles of the war and 
the collapse of the Confederacy. From the close 
associations of these nine years of youth and early 
manhood, and especially of the last year of the re- 
bellion, during which Upton commanded a division 
of cavalry under my immediate supervision, I came 
to know him with that intimacy which is possible 
only between soldiers. After the war our paths lay 
apart, for, while I resumed my duties as an engineer 
officer, and finally left the army altogether for the 
purpose of building and operating railroads, Upton, 
although urged to resign and engage in private 



X Intro ductio7i. 

business, on the theory that it was as meritorious 
for a man of his parts to leave the army in times of 
peace as to enter it in times of war, after mature 
consideration declined, and determined to devote 
himself for life to the military profession. He 
realized that, while his campaigning days were 
probably over, there was yet a brilliant career 
open for him in the writing of tactics, the study of 
the organization and administration of armies, and 
in the evolution of an effective and economical 
military policy for our Government. As shown by 
the course of the narrative which follows, he 
served after the close of the war successively on the 
Plains; as commandant of cadets at West Point; on 
a board of officers to assimilate the tactics of artil- 
lery, cavalry, and infantry ; as the head of a com- 
mission to visit Asia and Europe for the purpose of 
inspecting and reporting upon the armies of those 
countries ; as superintendent of theoretical instruc- 
tion in the Artillery School for Practice at Fortress 
Monroe ; and, finally, in command of his regiment 
in California. During the whole of this time we 
corresponded with each other, and our friendly re- 
lations remained unbroken to the end. 

The history of the events which occurred during 
the War of the Rebellion is fast being written, and 
is of great importance to the American people, but 
it needs the element of personality to give it that 
absorbing interest which is necessary to fix it in the 
mind, and to impress its lessons upon the under- 
standing of coming generations. Fortunately for 
the country, the pages of history can never be illu- 
minated by a more exemplary character or a more 



Introductio7t. xi 

spotless name than that of Upton. His life was 
pure and unselfish in the highest degree, and yet it 
was controlled by a patriotic and sleepless ambition, 
accompanied by an ardent love for the profession 
of arms, which, from their earliest dawn, filled him 
with the resolve to acquire military fame. This 
idea dominated him completely throughout his ca- 
reer, and when the rebellion broke out it found the 
young soldier not only ready, but eager for the fray. 
His loyalty to the Constitution and the Union was 
unshakable ; it was bone of his bone and blood of 
his blood. His courage and independence had al- 
ready been proved by sturdy resistance to the ar- 
rosrance of his Southern classmates. He had at his 
very advent at the Academy boldly announced that 
he was an abolitionist, and in sympathy with what- 
ever tended to promote the freedom of the slaves. 
He had been ostracized for his political opinions, 
and had suffered in body and mind for his superior- 
ity to sectional influences. He had been forced to 
fight because he would not bend before the bluster- 
ing bravado of the " fire-eaters," and had come off 
victorious. He had grown in strength of intellect 
as well as of body ; he had made his way from the 
foot of his class, where the alphabetical arrange- 
ment had placed him, to the first section, where he 
graduated. He entered the army with a strong, 
healthy, robust constitution, full of energy and cour- 
age, and with a well-trained mind richly stored with 
such knowledge as he could obtain from text-books, 
and, what was more and quite unusual, he had 
the faculty of turning this knowledge promptly 
and efficiently to practical use in his profession. 



^" Introductioft. 

This was one of his strongest points. He was 
proud and honorable, and feared no man ; his love 
of God was open and avowed ; his love of liberty 
for all God's creatures amounted to a passion, and, 
while his love for his chosen profession was deep- 
seated and abiding, it found its justification to him- 
self in the opportunity it would give him, during the 
trials which had come upon the nation, to render 
good service to the cause of humanity and to that 
of his country's unity. But aside from patriotism 
on the one hand and religion on the other, he was a 
genuine military enthusiast, whose thoughts night 
and day turned to the art of war. No knight of old 
was ever more absorbed in dreams of military glory, 
nor more grimly determined to win it, as opportu- 
nity offered. He was tremendously in earnest, and 
whatever his hand found to do, that he did with all 
his might. Had Upton lived during the period of 
any of the great European wars, he might still have 
been a devout. God-fearing Christian, but he would 
certainly have been a soldier, and with favoring 
circumstances he would have been a great captain. 
His ambition, subordinated and controlled as it was 
by a character of extraordinary purity and strength, 
was limited only by his sense of duty as a soldier 
and as a patriot. Like the young eagle which had 
not yet felt the strength of its pinions, there was no 
flight within the range of his vision which he would 
hesitate to essay. At the very outset of his career 
this was plain to those who knew him well, and, long 
before the war of the rebellion ended, it had come 
to be understood by all that there was no enterprise 
too perilous for Upton, if only he might hope to 



Introdtiction. xiii 

gain credit or promotion thereby. No proper un- 
derstanding can be had of Upton's character with- 
out giving full force and effect to this peculiarity. 
He had as high a sense of duty as any man, and 
would have cheerfully laid down his life and all its 
anticipations of honor and fame in the performance 
of any service for his country which its legally con- 
stituted authorities could have set for him, but 
throughout his career he was constantly inspired 
and cheered by the thought of " young ambition's 
ladder," whereto he upward turned his face in order 
that he might reach its topmost round. It must be 
said, however, that as he rose from round to round 
he neither turned his back upon the ladder, nor 
scorned the degrees by which he did ascend. He 
was modest at all times, constant, courageous, and 
vigilant. He was loyal and obedient to his superiors 
whoever they were, though his patience was more 
than once severely tested by what seemed to him 
indifference or incompetence on the part of those 
above him. He did all in his power to improve the 
discipline and to promote the subordination of the 
army to those in authority over it. He had no dis- 
position to take part in cliques or cabals, but felt 
that it was his duty to serve in silence wherever 
he might be sent, and to be faithful over those 
things which might be confided to his care. 

With an ample education given him by his coun- 
try, inspired by the enthusiasm of youth, and guided 
by the correct principles of manhood, Upton began 
his public career fully equipped, and under the 
most favorable auspices. He was not long in real- 
izing his ambitious dreams, for honorable mention 

B 



xiv Introduction, 

and rapid promotion followed close upon his in- 
trepid deeds. As a regimental drill-master, and as 
an aide-de-camp, battery commander, and chief of 
artillery, he shared all the perils of the Army of the 
Potomac in the earlier days of the war, gaining ex- 
perience and familiarity with military operations in 
the field, and above all gaining confidence in him- 
self and his own military knowledge and capacity, 
as compared with those of the officers with whom 
he was thrown in contact. His voluminous corre- 
spondence with his family and friends gives abun- 
dant evidence of the readiness with which he ad- 
vanced from details to the higher considerations of 
administration and command, and even to those of 
strategy and military policy. He soon saw that, 
having devoted five years to acquiring the edu- 
cation of a soldier, and having participated in 
the first battle of Bull Run, and the subsequent 
operations in Virginia, he knew just as much 
about war as an art and science as the older 
officers of the regular army, and a great deal 
more than was possible for any officer of volunteers 
fresh and green from civil life. This encouraged 
him to believe that notwithstanding his youth — for 
at the outbreak of hostilities he was only twenty- 
two years old — and in spite of his lack of political 
influence, he would surely gain rank if his life were 
spared. This last consideration was of the first im- 
portance to him, as to all ambitious soldiers, for 
the chances of death were very great in the war 
then raging. Upton had early become convinced 
that the first requisite to success in the profession 
of arms was unflinching and unhesitating courage, 



Introducho7i. xv 

not only for its influence over his superiors, but 
over those whom he had to lead, and yet observa- 
tion taught him that the most courageous were 
frequently the first to fall. Fully appreciating all 
the dangers of his calling, he never shirked one of 
them, but boldly and resolutely met them wherever 
and whenever duty seemed to require it of him. 
He was neither rash nor foolhardy, and yet the 
closest observer could find nothing in his conduct 
under fire to criticise. His courage was both physi- 
cal and moral, and therefore of the highest type. 
When he reported to me for assignment to the 
command of a division of cavalry, he remarked 
that he had no doubt of his professional capacity 
to manage cavalry as well as either artillery or in- 
fantry, but he expressed considerable anxiety as to 
his standing with his division until he should have 
commanded it in action and shown both officers 
and men that he was neither afraid nor lacking in 
dash. He feared that the rigid discipline he would 
exact and the constant instruction he would give 
might for a while make him unpopular, but he felt 
sure that he would remove all prejudice of that 
sort at the first action in which he should lead his 
division. The result was as he anticipated in every 
respect, except as to his unpopularity. The divis- 
ion to which he was assigned was composed of 
veterans, who saw from the start that his was a 
master-hand. Both men and officers responded 
promptly and cheerfully to every demand he made 
upon them, and after the fights at Montevallo and 
Plantersville, the assault upon Selma, and the capt- 
ure of Columbus, by a night attack of extraordi- 



xvi hitroduction. 

nary brilliancy, their confidence in and admiration 
for him were unbounded. They felt that under his 
leadership they could go anywhere and do any- 
thing-, while he told me that he had learned the 
greatest lesson of his life, in reference to the rela- 
tive value of the three arms of service, and as to 
the almost boundless capacity of mounted troops 
when properly armed, organized, and commanded. 
Immediately after the capture of Columbus, to 
which I shall allude again, he declared that he 
could traverse the Confederacy from end to end, 
and from side to side, with his single division, carry- 
ing any kind of fortifications by assault with which 
he might come in contact, and defying capture by 
any kind or amount of force which might be sent 
against him. This declaration was not that of a 
braggart, but was the honest conclusion at which 
he had arrived, after the closest observation and 
reflection. In the hour of battle he was as intrepid 
a man as ever drew a saber, and yet in battle, as 
well as on the march or in camp, prudence and 
judgment were his constant companions. He left 
nothing to chance, and trusted nothing to mere 
luck, but provided for everything, and as far as 
possible foresaw everything. He knew that dis- 
cipline, order, and attention to the details of or- 
ganization, equipment, and supply, whether on the 
march or in the camp, were essential to success 
in a long-continued campaign, and would do more 
than everything else toward making his command 
invincible in action. He did not for a moment 
commit the fault, so common to young cavalry- 
commanders, of supposing that he could build up 



Introduction. xvii 

a solid reputation by courage and enterprise alone. 
He saw that both men and horses required con- 
stant attention ; that celerity of movement, com- 
pactness of formation, and long-continued exertion, 
were no less essential than courage in action, and 
that no amount of the latter could compensate for 
lack of condition on the part of either men or 
horses, or their equipment. Hence, from the day 
he took command of his division its improvement 
in every respect was conspicuous, and, what is 
more important, this improvement continued to 
show itself throughout the campaign, which ended 
at Augusta, Georgia. At that time the condition 
of his division was all that could be desired, and it 
may be doubted if it was in any respect surpassed 
by that of any other cavalry division in the army, 
although it had been under his command less than 
three months. 

But to return to the earlier days of Upton's 
career. His experience in the command of a bat- 
tery of horse-artillery, at the siege of Yorktown, 
the action at West Point, and at the battles of 
Gaines's Mills and Glendale, and also in command 
of a brigade of artillery in the Maryland campaign, 
was of the most creditable character. It brought him 
prominently into notice ; but, owing to the broken 
and heavily wooded condition of most of the Vir- 
ginia battle-fields, and the consequent limitations 
upon the use of artillery, he saw that that arm would 
not afford him scope enough for his genius, and 
that, the more useful he made himself in it, the 
less chance would he have for service in the other 
arms, or for promotion to the rank of a general 



xviii Introduction. 

officer. Consequently he spared no proper effort 
to secure the command of a regiment of infantry, 
and did not rest till he had got it. This gave him 
a larger field for usefulness, together with an abun- 
dance of that kind of work which he coveted and 
for which he was peculiarly fitted. His first care 
was to secure the confidence of his regiment, and 
this he did by showing it that he knew his business 
in all its details, whether in camp, on the march, or 
in battle. His constant effort was to keep it well 
supplied, properly clad, and under perfect drill 
and discipline, and so successful was he in all 
this that he soon became noted throughout the 
Army of the Potomac as a model colonel. He 
was one of the few officers in service who prop- 
erly appreciated the value of an address to his men 
before going into battle, and it was his custom 
to encourage them in this way whenever occasion 
offered. 

It is not my purpose to follow him through the 
details of his service as regimental commander, ex- 
tending from October 23, 1862, to July 4, 1863. This 
has been done in the narrative which follows. The 
command of a brigade came to him in due time, not 
only by seniority as a colonel, but by the selection of 
those in authority over him, and his conduct in the 
still broader field which it opened was characterized 
by the same fertility of resource, untiring zeal, and 
attention to details that had hitherto distinguished 
him. No duty was omitted. Drill, discipline, and 
order were exacted from all, and supervised by 
him in all the regiments under his command. Tac- 
tics and formations for battle were most carefully 



Introduction. xix 

studied, and nothing was left to chance. Every 
order was executed by him with the greatest possi- 
ble precision, and when left to himself he provided 
for every contingency, including that of success 
as well as that of failure. As a consequence, it 
soon came to be understood that Upton's brigade 
must lead all attacks and assaults made within 
his reach, and, what was of still greater credit to 
him, he rarely failed to carry the enemy's position, 
whether fortified or not. This was not mere chance, 
nor was it altogether the result of intrepidity and 
dash. Fie showed those qualities in the highest 
degree, but he showed prudent foresight and good 
judgment, combined with careful preparation for 
every step of the undertaking assigned to him, in a 
still higher degree. In view of the splendid fighting 
qualities of the rebel Army of Northern Virginia, 
and of the great vigilance and abilities displayed 
by Lee and his subordinate commanders of every 
grade, and considering the extraordinary mortality 
that always attended an engagement with them, it 
may well be doubted if the metal of any soldier of 
modern times was ever more severely tested than 
was Upton's during 'his two years' service in the 
Army of the Potomac, and especially at Salem 
Heights, Rappahannock Station, in the Wilderness, 
or while leading the assaulting column of twelve 
regiments of the Sixth Corps which carried the 
Angle of the enemy's intrenchments at Spottsyl- 
vania. The abilities displayed by him on this occa- 
sion were of the highest character, and secured for 
him not only the praises of the whole army, but 
the long-coveted and amply earned reward of a 



XX Introduction. 

commission as brigadier-general of volunteers, and 
also as brevet lieutenant-colonel in the regular army. 
But neither the hard work nor the hard knocks 
were over yet. He displayed the same high quali- 
ties in all the movements, marches, and battles which 
characterized that remarkable campaign, including 
the bloody actions of Cold Harbor and the siege 
and assaults of the rebel works about Petersburg. 
His conduct throughout these trying times was 
absolutely faultless ; while his cheerful and un- 
shaken confidence in the ultimate success of our 
arms had a great influence on those about him, and 
was worthy of all praise. He was prompt and 
obedient at all times and in all situations, and his 
alacrity was surpassed only by the resolution and 
the steadiness which he displayed in the desperate 
and almost constant fighting in which the army was 
engaged for nearly a )'-ear after Grant took com- 
mand. He gave loyal and unquestioning support 
to his superior officers, and especially to those who 
were in chief command ; but it must not be sup- 
posed that he was a mere machine soldier, or that 
he gave his approval to their plans as he gave 
obedience to their orders. He studiously and care- 
full}'' refrained from public criticism, but he was too 
good an officer and too close a student of the art 
of war to blindly shut his eyes to the faults which 
were committed about him. The fact is, that he 
saw much to condemn in the daily operations of the 
army, and the reader Avill not fail to note that his 
active mind poured itself out in criticism in his let- 
ters to his sister. It was to her that he expressed his 
disappointment at the long delay of his promotion 



Introduction. xxi 

to the rank of brigadier-general after he had earned 
it over and over again ; it was to her that he wrote 
during the overland campaign : " Our men have in 
many instances been foolishly and wantonly sacri- 
ficed. Assault after assault has been ordered upon 
the enemy's intrenchments when [the general order- 
ing it] knew nothing about the strength or position 
of the enemy. Thousands of lives might have been 
spared by the exercise of a little skill ; but as it is, 
the courage of the poor men is expected to obviate 
all difficulties. I must confess that, so long as I see 
such incompetency, there is no grade in the army 
to which I do not aspire." It was also to her he 
wrote : " We are now at Cold Harbor, where we 
have been since June ist. On that day we had a 
murderous engagement. I say murderous, because 
we were recklessly ordered to assault the enemy's 
intrenchments " ; and again : " I am very sorry to 
say I have seen but little generalship during the 
campaign. Some of our corps commanders are not 
fit to be corporals. Lazy and incompetent, they 
will not even ride along their lines ; yet without 
hesitancy they will order us to attack the enemy, no 
matter what their position or what their numbers. 
Twenty thousand of our killed and wounded should 
to-day be in our ranks." But it will not escape the 
reader's attention that Upton's mind was not content 
at this period to confine itself to the mere condem- 
nation of details. It was incessantly occupied in 
trying to work out correct solutions for all the mili- 
tary problems then engaging the army's attention ; 
and while subsequent events did not justify all his 
suggestions or criticisms, the careful student of 



xxii Introduction. 

the war will be struck by the extraordinary grasp 
and abihty displayed in the arguments and con- 
clusions which he so patiently recounted, perhaps 
for his own improvement as much as for the 
information and instruction of his sister. Nor 
v.'ill the reader fail to note that as early as 
June 5, 1864, when Upton was not yet twenty- 
five years of age, he had not only detected and 
pointed out the crude methods and incompetency 
which were so prevalent, but had frankly, and 
with pardonable ambition, declared that there 
was no grade in the army to which he did not 
aspire. 

When Lee detached Early to threaten Washing- 
ton and harry the Maryland border, it was Upton's 
good fortune to be sent in the same direction with 
the Sixth Corps, to which his brigade was attached. 
He took part in all the operations for the relief and 
defense of the capital, and finally participated in 
the battle of the Opequan and the capture of Win- 
chester, in which Early's army was completely 
routed. It was Upton's brigade which first de- 
ployed on the plateau beyond the Opequan after its 
capture by the cavalry. It was his brigade and the 
cavalry division which covered the de'boiichement of 
the Sixth Corps from the defile through which it 
was compelled to advance, and held the field till it 
and the rest of the army could deploy and form for 
the attack. It was his brigade which, by a change 
of front to the right, arrested the flight of a part of 
the Sixth and Nineteenth Corps, and, taking the 
enemy in flank, drove them back in confusion. It 
was also his brigade which, in the final rush of 



Introductioii. xxiii 

both infantry and cavalry, pierced the enemy's left 
center, and made the victory both certain and 
complete. It was in this charge that the heroic 
General David A. Russell, commanding the divis- 
ion, was mortally wounded. He was promptly suc- 
ceeded by Upton, who pressed the division for- 
ward with conspicuous ability and energy. In the 
full tide of success the gallant young commander 
was severely wounded on the inside of the right 
thigh by a fragment of a bursting shell. The mus- 
cle was frightfully lacerated and the femoral artery 
laid bare, but, instead of retiring, as he was fully 
justified in doing, and indeed as he was ordered to 
do by General Sheridan in person, he called his 
staff-surgeon and directed him to stanch the bleed- 
ing wound by a tourniquet. As soon as this was 
done, he called for a stretcher, and had himself borne 
about the field thereon, still directing the move- 
ments of his victorious division, and did not leave it 
or give up the command till night had put an end to 
the pursuit. The fortitude displayed by him upon 
this occasion was heroic in the extreme, and marked 
him as a man of extraordinary nerve. It was in 
notable contrast with what had come to be custom- 
ary on such occasions. So bloody had been the 
Richmond campaign under Grant, that both officers 
and men counted themselves fortunate when they 
received a slight wound, which might be honorably 
availed of as an excuse for leaving the field, and 
thus escaping the peril of a mortal one. I knew a 
corps commander of the i\rmy of the Potomac, in 
the earlier days of the war, famed for his fighting 
qualities, who retired from battle because of a 



xxiv Introduction. 

trifling flesh-wound under the arch of the right 
foot, and who peremptorily refused to return to 
the hne, although he was urged to do so, if need 
be, in an ambulance or on a stretcher, in order that 
his corps might be rallied around him, and pos- 
sibly avert a great disaster, if it did not win a great 
victor3\ Few men have had such an opportunity 
for fame. Had it fallen to Upton's lot, can any 
one doubt that he would have availed himself of 
it, even if his foot had been taken off, instead of 
being so slightly wounded that he could have 
walked upon it, as did the corps commander in 
less than six days ? Fortitude on the part of a gen- 
eral upon such occasions is the greatest of mili- 
tary virtues. It inflames the soldiers with enthu- 
siasm, and inspires them with courage as nothing 
else can. 

This battle, which had won for Upton the com- 
mand of a division, closed his career as a leader of 
infantry in the Union army. His wound was so se- 
vere that he was entirely disabled by it till the mid- 
dle of December following. Meanwhile I had been 
assigned to the task of reorganizing and command- 
ing the Western cavalry, and had been promised 
the assistance of a few good officers from the Army 
of the Potomac. I had asked for Upton at the head 
of the list, and as soon as he was able to travel 
he joined me in midwinter at Gravelly Springs, 
Alabama, after the close of the Hood campaign. 
His wound was not yet entirely healed, but he 
at once assembled his division and set about 
its instruction with all his accustomed industry 
and enthusiasm. I have alluded to the misgiv- 



hitroduction. xxv 

ings which troubled him at the beginning of his 
career as a cavalry -commander, and have re- 
lated how he gained the confidence of his division 
by his untiring devotion to their wants in camp 
and on the march, no less than by his conspicuous 
gallantry and generalship in action. The skill dis- 
played by him in the capture of the fortifications 
covering Columbus by a night attack, which also 
resulted in the capture of nearly all the rebel troops 
defending them, as well as the bridges across the 
Chattahoochee River, thus securing for the cavalry 
corps a safe passage of that river into the city, and 
opening the way for the speedy conquest of the en- 
tire State of Georgia, has already been adverted to. 
This occurred on the i6th of April, 1865, and was 
the last considerable action of the war. It has been 
described by competent mihtary critics as one of 
the most remarkable exploits in the history of mod- 
ern cavalry. Although Upton participated in all 
the after-operations consequent upon the collapse 
of the Confederacy, including those for the capture 
of Jefferson Davis and the lesser rebel chiefs, as 
well as in the dispositions for disbanding the na- 
tional army, and acquitted himself with his usual 
skill and ability, it may be said that the capture of 
Columbus closed his brilliant career as a cavalry- 
officer. His service in Tennessee and Kentucky and 
upon the Plains followed soon after, and was in turn 
followed by his marriage, the preparation of the in- 
fantry tactics, and the assimilation of the cavalry 
and artillery tactics thereto. This was the begin- 
ning of his life as a student of the art of war in its 
higher branches. His instruction at West Point, 



xxvi Introduction. 

and his practical experience in all the arms of ser- 
vice for the four years of the great rebellion, had 
taught him all that any one could learn of a soldier's 
practical duties in the field. After completing his 
tour as commandant of cadets at West Point, and as 
instructor of artillery, infantry, and cavalry tactics, 
he was, as before indicated, sent by the Government 
through Asia and Europe to study the organization, 
equipment, and administration of armies. Upon his 
return from this tour he was assigned to duty at 
the Artillery School of Practice as instructor of the 
art of war, and, while thus engaged, prepared and 
published the report of his observations in Europe, 
and began his work on the " Military Policy of the 
United States." During the preparation of this 
work he analyzed critically all the records of the 
Government in relation to the wars in which it had 
been engaged, from the beginning of the Revolution 
to the end of the rebellion of the slave States. The 
story of all this is clearly and fully set forth in the 
following pages, made up principally of Upton's 
own letters, written with the utmost freedom and 
unconsciousness, and, as their context shows, with- 
out the slightest expectation on his part that they 
would ever be collected or printed. They exhibit 
his character in all the stages of its moral and intel- 
lectual evolution more completely than it would be 
possible for any amount of description on the part 
of others to delineate it. And so it only remains for 
me to say, in conclusion, as I have constantly main- 
tained since the close of the war, that at that time 
Upton was as good an artillery-officer as could be 
found in any country, the equal of any cavalry-com- 



Introduction. xxvii 

mander of his day, and, all things considered, was 
the best commander of a division of infantry in 
either the Union or the rebel army. He was the 
equal of Custer or Kilpatrick in dash and enter- 
prise, and vastly the superior of either in discipline 
and administration, whether on the march or in the 
camp. He was incontestably the best tactician of 
either army, and this is true whether tested by bat- 
tle or by the evolutions of the drill-field and pa- 
rade. In view of his success in all arms of the serv- 
ice, it is not too much to add that he could scarce- 
ly have failed as a corps or an army commander had 
it been his good fortune to be called to such rank. 
And nothing is more certain than that he would 
have had a corps of cavalry had the war lasted 
sixty days longer, or that, with the continuation of 
the struggle, he would have been in due time put 
at the head of an army. No one can read the story 
of his brilliant career without concluding that he 
had a real genius for war, together with all the the- 
oretical and practical knowledge which any one 
could acquire in regard to it. He was the equal, if 
not the superior, of Hoche, Desaix, or Skobeleff, in 
all the military accomplishments and virtues, and 
up to the time when he was disabled by the disease 
which caused his death he was, all things consid- 
ered, the most accomplished soldier in our service. 
His life was pure and upright, his bearing chiv- 
alric and commanding, his conduct modest and 
unassuming, and his character absolutely without 
blemish. History can not furnish a brighter ex- 
ample of unselfish patriotism, or of ambition un- 
sullied by an ignoble thought or an unworthy deed. 



xxviii Introduction. 

He was a credit to the State and family, which 
gave him his birth, to the MiUtary Academy which 
educated him, and to the army in which he served. 
So long as the Union has such soldiers as he to 
defend it, it will be perpetual. 

James Harrison Wilson. 
Wilmington, Del., May 2, 18S3. 



EMORY UPTON. 



CHAPTER I. 

BOYHOOD. 

Emory Upton was the tenth child and sixth son 
of Daniel and Electa Upton, and was born on the 
27th of August, 1839, in Batavia, Genesee County, 
New York. He was a direct descendant of John 
Upton, a Scotchman, the founder of the families of 
that name in this country. 

John Upton came to America about the year 
1650, and settled in Danvers, Massachusetts, then 
called Salem village, where his son William was 
born in 1663, and his grandson William in 1703. 
The son and grandson of the latter, both also bear- 
ing the name of William, were born in North Read- 
ing, in 1729 and 1759 respectively. The latter, re- 
moving to Dublin, New Hampshire, married Mary 
Morse, and the second son by this marriage was 
born in Dublin in 1796, and is the father of Emory, 
the subject of this sketch. 

On his mother's side, he was descended from 
Stephen Randall, a native of New Hampshire. 
Born in Nottingham in 1782, he married Rachel 
Fifield, in Danville, Vermont, in 1799. On the 2d 



2 Emory Upton. 

of February, 1815, after a severe wintry journey of 
three weeks, Mr. Randall, with his family, consist- 
ing of his wife and nine children, reached the site of 
a farm which he had selected in the then unbroken 
wilderness, near Stafford, Genesee County, New 
York, and, within twenty-four hours after their ar- 
rival, they were under their own shelter. With 
characteristic industry and prudence they not only 
reared a family of fourteen children, but acquired 
a competency, which was ever dispensed with such 
generosity as to make this home known far and 
wide as a center of hospitahty. 

Daniel Upton, the father of Emory, removing to 
New York, purchased a farm in Batavia, Genesee 
County, then a tract of native woods, and felled 
the first tree for the improvement of his homestead. 
On September 30, 1821, he married Electa Ran- 
dall, and the young couple immediately began their 
married life in a log-cabin. 

Members of the Methodist Protestant Church, 
the parents of Upton have been zealous Christians, 
whose lives have been consistent with their public 
professions of faith. Earnest believers in temper- 
ance, and stanch advocates of unfettered freedom, 
holding slavery to be a moral wrong, Mr. Upton 
never hesitated, either by word or vote, to plant 
himself squarely and unmistakably on the side of 
what he held to be right on these questions. He 
perceived the great value of education, and gave 
his children every advantage that was possible in 
his circumstances. 

Mrs. Upton inherited a rare executive ability, 
sweetened by a cheerful disposition and sustained 



Boyhood. 3 

by a hopeful perseverance. A loving wife, she be- 
came the honored mother of thirteen children. Her 
life, necessarily a continual sacrifice, has been to her, 
nevertheless, full of recompense and of peace and 
joy. To his mother, with her abnegation of self, 
her untiring industry, her hopeful encouragement 
in the face of trials and disappointments, her tender- 
hearted solicitude and watchful care in the gradual 
unfolding of physical and mental characteristics, 
Emory Upton early gave testimony as the true 
source of all his success and honor in life. The 
name of mother was ever the tenderest and gentlest 
of words to him, for it awakened the memory of a 
pure and boundless love which had never failed him. 

Emory Upton spent his early years upon a farm, 
acquiring health and strength in bodily develop- 
ment and the Christian influences of a pious home 
for the support and direction of his intellectual life. 

The educational advantages enjoyed by him 
were such as were common to the neighborhood, 
supplemented by the instruction received from his 
elder brothers and sisters. As he approached his 
fifteenth year, however, his growing ambition urged 
him to seek the advantage of a term in college, and, 
with the assistance and assent of his parents, he 
spent the winter of i854-'55 at Oberlin College, in 
Ohio. 

It appears, from the recollections of an intimate 
friend and schoolmate, that he had, at even that 
early day, a strong wish to enter the Military 
Academy at West Point, which colored his youthful 
life, and in some measure controlled his thoughts 
and actions. He was indebted to his brother 



4 Emory Upton. 

James for this idea, which was speedily developed 
into an ardent desire for a military career by read- 
ing- the life of Napoleon. 

Young as he was at his first separation from 
home, he possessed a strong character and an inde- 
pendent spirit, as is clearly shown in the following 
narrative of a friend * who was his close compan- 
ion while a student at Oberlin : 

" . , .' Whatever means he might be able to se- 
cure from home at this time, toward paying his 
board and tuition bills, he took a pride in not de- 
pending on it, or in calling upon home for money. 
He worked as many hours each day as I did. Our 
work was chiefly about the planing-mill and sash- 
factory of Mr. S. Ellis. We were paid eight cents 
an hour, and our work consisted for the most part 
in attending to the drying-kiln, filling it and empty- 
ing it, in which the poplar lumber was prepared for 
use in the factory. Besides this, we did any work 
that we could do within the hours we had allowed 
for that purpose. We fully agreed that no one 
should be ashamed of doing what ought to be 
done. The hours that other boys of our age spent 
in recreation, we spent in hard work. We scarcely 
took an hour's recreation in the week excepting on 
Sundays, when we went into the deep woods, at 
that time quite plenty about Oberlin, and even 
then we combined business with pleasure, for in 
the depths of the forest we read our essays to each 
other, or declaimed the pieces for the coming rhe- 
torical exercises of the week. At that time, even, 
Emory could write well (not chirographically by 

* Now Rev. Father O'Reilly. 



Boyhood. 5 

any means), but his oratorical powers were defect- 
ive. However, he used to console himself by say- 
ing that a soldier did not need to be an orator, for 
that, if he ever had to speak, it would be to his men 
in the face of the enemy, and on such occasions an 
oration must be necessarily short, and he thought 
he would be able for that. 

" He had no taste for useless ornament in his 
writings, and never allowed himself to seek for fre- 
quent adjectives and high-sounding words, as young 
writers are wont to do ; for if he were told, * That 
sentence sounds poetical,' he would quietly change 
it to a more prosy form. 

" He had no love for poets or musicians in those 
days. His ambition was to secure the solid basis 
of a practical education. 

" His personal appearance at that time was very 
different from his appearance the last time I saw 
him. He was thin and wiry, quite freckled, his 
hair standing nearly straight ; always in a hurry ; 
spoke like lightning ; very quick of perception, for 
he often cut a person off in the middle of a remark 
with his own reply, which was always to the point. 
. . . After our work, which was over at four o'clock 
in the afternoon, we went to study. We never stud- 
ied the same lesson together, unless we were pushed 
for time, but, whenever we could, we always re- 
viewed our lessons together just before going to 
class. 

" He never slept on a pillow ; he made his side 
of the bed perfectly level, and used it in this way. 
He was afraid of becoming round-shouldered. He 
would not crack a nut with his teeth, or use any- 



6 Emory Upton. 

thing- that he thought might injure them, as, he 
said, to have good teeth was a condition to enter 
West Point. We never took any part in the foolish 
freaks of the boys, and yet we had plenty of com- 
pany in our room, and always stood good friends 
with our comrades. 

"■ The great abolition movement, the under- 
ground railroad, bleeding Kansas, and all the 
'isms' of that nature, were alive about this time. 
Emory never took any part in these demonstra- 
tions, nor spent time to hear the lectures and 
speeches on these subjects except, perhaps, ' Old 
John Brown/ and of him he did not think much. 
He was strongly opposed to slavery, yet he never 
engaged in talking about it as other young men 
did. More than once, on returning from rhetorical 
exercises, he would say : * I am sick of such stuff. 
Let those fellows learn their lessons now while at 
school, and by-and-by, if they have any brains, they 
may be able to do some good.' 

" We joined a literary society, but, on becoming 
members, we found it inclined to be an infidel affair, 
and at once left it. I never knew Emory Upton to 
use profane language, or speak with the least disre- 
pect of religion, its ministers, or members as such. 
The only useless phrase he used was ' confound it.' 
This served all occasions. I never knew him to 
speak with the least levity of a woman, nor take 
any pleasure in jests or stories that inclined to any- 
thing disrespectful of the sex. 

" Very naturally we often talked about what we 
should each try to be. To me it seemed almost 
impossible to reach my object. He had strong 



Boyhood. 7 

hopes of entering West Point, and kept that in 
view all the time. He frequently built large castles 
in the air, and, strange to say, the reality of his suc- 
cess as a military man surpassed in brilliancy the 
imagination of his youth. 

" I have said that he was strongly opposed to 
Southern slavery. No one could be more so. At 
this time no one could anticipate the terrible war 
of the rebellion but as a possibility. He again and 
again felt sure that war would come. He said that 
he would be just ready for it. While I had no sym- 
pathy with slavery, I was not as decided an aboli- 
tionist as he was. So, on one occasion of a talk of the 
above nature, we agreed that, if he should be a gen- 
eral before he was forty-five years of age, and slavery 
abolished, I should present him with a splendid re- 
volver, with something engraved on it to indicate 
the occasion and the reason why it was given. If 
he were not a general at that age, he should give me 
books to suit me, of a corresponding value. This was 
to be the mark or test, should we Hve, that as boys 
we could see something of the great coming events." 

It so happened that at this time Judge Benjamin 
Pringle represented in Congress the New York dis- 
trict in which young Upton resided, and to him 
the youth owed the possession of what he so much 
coveted. In transmitting the letter of appointment 
from the Secretary of War to Upton, Judge Pringle 
thus advised him : 

House of Representatives, 
Washington, D. C, March 12, 1856. 

Dear Sir : I have the pleasure of indorsing a 
notice signed by the Secretary of War, informing 



8 Emory Upton. 

you that the President has conditionally appointed 
you a cadet in the military service of the United 
States. I selected you for the place because, from 
representations made by your friends concerning 
you, and from my slight acquaintance with you, I 
believed that you possessed sufficient talent and 
ability, honesty and integrity, industry, energy, and 
perseverance to enable you to pass the ordeal at 
West Point creditably. Should you fail, it will be 
mortifying to me and to your other friends, but I 
trust there will be no failure. You will enter the 
academy under favorable circumstances, and you 
must make every reasonable effort to attain and 
maintain a high standing in your class, and if pos- 
sible carry off the first honors. You can hardly 
imagine the interest that I feel and shall continue to 
feel for your success. By doing well for yourself, 
you will honor me. The place to which you are 
appointed has been sought by many and supported 
by influential friends, but I thought best to choose 
you, and you must prove to the world that I have 
made a good choice. 

The first step toward the realization of his am- 
bition had been taken, and, intermingled with the 
great happiness that almost overwhelmed the young 
appointee, there was an ever-present determination, 
stronger even than his joy, that nothing should be 
left undone on his part to show to Judge Pringle 
that he would prove worthy of his favor. Never 
in his after honorable career did he forget the debt 
he owed the judge, and in his times of marked suc- 
cess he constantly reiterated, " I owe all to Judge 



Boyhood. 9 

Pringle." Loyalty and gratitude were henceforth 
prominent among his other good qualities. Every 
spare hour (and he ordinarily rose those wintry 
mornings before five o'clock), after the reception of 
the above letter, was devoted to his studies, that he 
might not fail on his entrance examination, and with 
such success that, on the ist of July, 1856, he was 
admitted a conditional cadet into the Military Acad- 
emy at West Point. 

In considering the influences that so far had 
molded this as yet uneventful life, there are some 
traits that may be specially designated. As a boy 
he was conscientious, for he did his duty willingly, 
cheerfully, and thoroughly before he sought the 
pleasures of play and recreation ; he was pure in 
heart, clean of speech, and took no delight in coarse 
jests or idle words ; and, above all, he was greatly 
in earnest in whatever he undertook, and thus he 
accomplished more than he had hoped. 



CHAPTER II. 

CADET-LIFE AT WEST POINT. 

Upton reported at West Point on the 3d of 
June, 1856, and it was soon evident that he came 
with a firm determination to meet manfully all dif- 
ficulties, and to " become a general before he was 
forty-five years of age." 

By the 20th of June there were gathered to- 
gether from all sections of the country about one 
hundred young men on the same errand, selected, 
for one reason or another, by their respective Con- 
gressmen as fit to enter upon military life. It is an 
instructive sight, and one calculated to give rise to 
many emotions, to look upon the earnest counte- 
nances of these youths. For the time being they 
may be taken as the truest outcome of our people, 
representing, in their undeveloped powers, the im- 
mediate future generation of our country, as the 
members of Congress represent the present. The 
dress, appearance, stature, dialect, culture, and ma- 
terial condition of the various sections of the coun- 
try, are here well exhibited, not as the best but 
rather as the average. But, after the young men 
have passed through their elementary drill, and are 
uniformed, the barriers due to differences of pre- 
vious condition are soon broken down, and those 



Cadet-Life at West Point. ii 

elements of humanity that unite us to our friends 
and associates prove stronger than the accidents of 
birth, or the influences of wealth or station. Like 
seek like : the manly and generous join in comrade- 
ship ; the weak and trifling are mingled but not 
united ; the vicious seek strength in union, and so 
the several strata are arranged. The strongest as- 
sociations are at first those of classmates, but in later 
years these include members of other classes. The 
deprivations, hardships, and sacrifices of the mili- 
tary service cement these friendly associations in 
after-life into the love and affection of a great broth- 
erhood. 

Upton was exceptionally well-equipped for the 
new life upon which he was now about to enter. 
With high principles, and the courage to defend 
them when the occasion was pressing, he possessed 
the modest demeanor of true worth. At first, he 
suffered under the imputation of a lack of courage 
from his quiet and unassuming behavior ; in the 
end, his comrades discovered that they had mis- 
taken his character. None suspected, underneath 
the modest bearing, the existence of the high pur- 
pose to which he had devoted his whole heart. 
He perfectly understood that before he could re- 
ceive the diploma of the institution, and his com- 
mission as an officer of the army, work would have 
to be done, so great in its importance to him that, 
to accomplish it well, he would need the steadiest 
application of his time, the severest study, and the 
concentration of all his physical and mental powers. 
It is also worthy of note that he — a youth of sixteen 
— clearly foresaw the danger which threatened the 



12 Emory Upton. 

Union, and actively sought to fit himself most thor- 
oughly to aid in its preservation. 

Making due allowances for the impetuosity of 
youth, the following extracts from his letters to his 
sister Maria give a reasonably true exhibit of the 
influence of West Point training in the formation of 
our embryo soldier ; and, in passing, we must not 
fail to estimate at its true value the effect of this 
sister's love, which, alive to his needs, cultivated 
with its womanly power the nobler qualities of her 
brother, and with its clear intuition guided and 
directed him in his new career. Let these letters, 
then, written in the freshness of youth and with the 
generous confidence of boyhood, tell the story of 
his cadet-life : 

Februaiy 25, 1857. 

Dear Sister : . . . I am glad to hear of your 
good health and assiduity to study, and that you 
are exerting every faculty in the laudable pursuit 
of education. I am striving equally hard for the 
same. I am sure that few have the facihties offered 
for getting an education which I have, and not to 
take advantage of these privileges is inconsistent. 
I study from 6 to 7 A. M., and from 8 A, M. to i P. M., 
including recitations ; then from 2 to 4 P. M. I read 
newspapers and write letters ; from 4 p. m. till sun- 
down is release from quarters, which I usually spend 
in the library reading, and then study from 7 to 9.30 
p. M. ; so that you see my time is pretty well occu- 
pied. Perhaps a few of my daily marks would give 
you an idea of my progress. ... So long as I can 
keep up to these marks I am not in danger of being 
found deficient. ... I am passionately attached to 



Cadet-Life at West Point. 13 

West Point, and would not give up my appoint- 
ment here for a million dollars. I want you to 
come here next encampment and see the beautiful 
scenery that I have often tried to describe. 

West Point, April 12, 1857. 
My DEAR Sister: ... In your last letter you 
asked if 1 sincerely believed in a God. I can say 
yes. I also believe in the religion inculcated by the 
ministers of God. . . . Few men now disbelieve re- 
ligion, and those are mostly ignorant men. Vol- 
taire, the greatest modern infidel, shrank from 
death ; and why ? Because of his unbelief. He 
was afraid to enter eternity. I hope that you will 
never desert the good cause you have espoused, 
and that you will do much good in your life. As 
for myself, I take the Bible as the standard of mo- 
rality, and try to read two chapters in it daily. 

West Point, September 7, 1857. 

My dear Sister: ... In your letter you al- 
lude to my demerit. I must say that it gave me the 
bluest kind of blues ; not because it made me have 
any apprehension of being " found," but because 
you look upon them in a wrong light. Now, I'll 
disabuse you of this error. You use the term " bad 
marks." Bad signifies to you, evil, wrong, immoral, 
and wicked, which placed before marks signifies 
that I have been doing something wrong or im- 
moral — something which conscience disapproves. 
That is wrong, not only in the sight of a military 
man, but of God. Now, what moral wrong is there 
in " laughing in ranks," in being " late at roll-call," 



14 Emory Upton, 

" not stepping off at command," " not having coat 
buttoned throughout," and kindred reports ? Now, 
is that wrong in the sight of God ? I say, no ! But 
it is wrong only in the sight of a military man, and 
it is from such reports that I get my demerits or 
" bad marks." I can say I have never received an 
immoral report, such as " using profane language." 
I thank you for the kind admonition, and to please 
you I will try to get as few as possible. I have only 
one so far this month, and if I get no more that will 
come off. I certainly shall be careful enough to 
prevent being cut a single day on furlough. 

West Point, February 13, 1858. 

Dear Sister : . . . I received a letter from Sis- 
ter L , in which she says that she and S- 



have experienced religion. I hope they may have 
the strength to defend and exemplify it throughout 
their whole lives. I also hope they have attamed it 
through a firm conviction of its being right, and 
that the irresistible current of a protracted meeting 
did not hasten them to take such an important step. 
Do not infer from this that I am opposed to such 
meetings, for I am not ; on the contrary, I think they 
cause two thirds of the true conversions, but you 
know that young and inconsiderate persons often 
catch the enthusiasm of an excited minister, and be- 
lieve they have found religion ; but, as soon as the 
meetings cease, their enthusiasm subsides, from the 
want of thorough conviction, and they necessarily 
revert to their primitive state. My reason for not 
seeking religion can only be ascribed to a queer 
kind of apathy. 



Cadet- Life at West Point. 15 

West Point, February g, 1859. 

My dear Sister : . . . The perusal of your 
last letter gave me great pain, yet I am glad you 
gave me so clear an insight into brother Le Roy's 
disease. I have but little hope of his recovery, and 
I only ask that he may be prepared for his last great 
change. Oh, that I could by look, word, or deed, 
ease his condition, but I can only think of and pity 
him ! My last thoughts at night and my first wak- 
ing thoughts are of him. How I wish I was at 
home, to watch by him and contribute my mite to- 
ward comforting him ! May he not delay in mak- 
ing his peace with God ! How thankful I am for 
such parents as we have ! Their sacred influence is 
ever about us, shielding us from temptation, and 
teaching us the true object of life. If Le Roy can 
not get well, I wish to be sent for ; I can not part 
with him forever without a last farewell. 

West Point, March 26, 1859. 

Dear Sister : . . , Dear Le Roy's request to 
me shall not be unheeded. I have resolved, yes, 
begun to seek the Lord, and shall continue till I find 
him. " He is slow to anger and of great kindness." 
Relying on the promise that " whosoever will seek 
mercy shall obtain it," I will leave no effort untried, 
but will work diligently to the end. . . . 

West Point, Apiil 23, 1859. 

Dear Sister : . . . You have doubtless heard 
that I have put my trust in the " Friend that sticketh 
closer tfiian a brother." Such is my hope. Life is 
but an instant as compared with eternity, and, when 



1 6 Emory Upton. 

we reflect that our future condition depends upon 
our actions here in this world, it is but reasonable 
that we should bow before the Creator, to acknowl- 
edge his supremacy and ask his forgiveness for 
our manifold violations of his law. I feel that I 
could resign everything to do his will and to gain 
his approbation. To-day being Easter, the Lord's 
Supper will be celebrated. I intend to partake of it 
willingly, and hope that I may be strengthened in 
my resolutions to serve him faithfully to the end. 
The army is a hard place to practice religion ; 
though few scoff at it, yet a great majority totally 
disregard it. Still, through the prayers of others I 
hope to lead a Christian life, and to do as much 
good in the army as in any other profession. I do 
not think that Christians have ever disgraced the 
profession of arms ; on the contrary, they are those 
who have most ennobled it. 

West Point, May i, 1859. 

Dear Cousin E : I have heard that you 

have experienced a change of heart, and that you 
propose to live hereafter a Christian life. This gives 
me great joy. I, too, have given myself up to God. 
Being, therefore, new laborers in the vineyard of 
the Lord, I thought that a correspondence might 
mutually benefit and strengthen us in the determi- 
nation we have made. I do sincerely hope that you 
have " offered yourself as a sacrifice, holy and ac- 
ceptable before the Lord," and have a hope of im- 
mortality. What a blessed thought ! Is it not a 
sufficient inducement to remain faithful to the end ? 
Yes ! what is the length of life, compared with nev- 



Cadet-Life at West Point. 1 7 

er-ending eternity ? Infinitely small. Yet our ac- 
tions during this instant are to determine our future 
condition throughout eternity. Let us strive to 
show ourselves worthy of the kingdom of heaven. 
Let us be true to the trust confided in us. We 
must necessarily encounter difificulties. We ijnay 
have to bear the scoffs of the world, but we should 
recollect that the Son of God not only had to bear 
this, but he was crucified, and his blood was shed 
for us. Doubts may arise in our minds ; but we 
must remember that we are finite beings, and God 
is infinite. How, therefore, can we expect to com- 
prehend the ways of an Infinite Being? Let us 
drop these doubts whenever they arise, and hope 
and trust in God, " who is just and merciful, slow 
to anger, and of great kindness." The more diffi- 
culties we triumph over, the greater will be our 
reward. Let us not, therefore, be discouraged or 
disheartened, but may we grow in the knowledge 
and love of God, that we may finally be accounted 
worthy of a seat at his right hand. 

West Point, Janiiary 6, i860. 
My dear Sister : Another year has joined the 
past, and i860, bright with promises, has dawned 
upon us. " We know not what a day may bring 
forth." i860 may be as indelibly stamped upon our 
memories as 1859 o^ 1856, when our loved ones 
were summoned from earth, x^s we look over our 
diminished numbers, we ask who is to go next. The 
one most robust in health may be the first to suc- 
cumb to disease. Let us thank God for his good- 
ness and mercy, for we feel that he has called them 



1 8 Emory Upton. 

unto his glory. We should be more watchful, more 
diligent in our services to God than we have been. 
Let our united prayers ascend to God that he may 
hasten the conversion of those of our family who 
still delay. 

West Point, January 20, i860. 

My dear Sister : . . . The nature of your letter 
shows conclusively your deep interest in my wel- 
fare. Your letter did me much good. In order to 
answer its questions, I had to examine myself to as- 
certain what motives actuate me. I can not be too 
thankful for having been reared under Christian in- 
fluences, for especially at this time do I need the 
assistance of God to keep me in the path of recti- 
tude. We are living in perilous times. Govern- 
ment, society, everything seem to be on the verge 
of revolution. The passions of the people are be- 
ing waked up, and they must have vent. God is 
directing the storm, and all is for the best. We 
may ask, How have we incurred his displeasure? 
The answer is easy. Mormonism, spiritualism, in- 
temperance, slavery, corruption in politics, either 
of which is almost sufficient to curse a people. 
Few there are who have not bowed the knee to 
Baal. We must have reform. We must return 
to reason and virtue. Why should we expect tol- 
erance when God suffered such calamities to be- 
fall his own chosen people? He scourged them 
with war, and he will punish us likewise. If we 
are to have war, I shall have no conscientious scru- 
ples as to engaging in it, for I believe I shall be 
on the side of right. I am ambitious ; but I shall 
strive to limit it to doing good. It will profit a 



Cadet- Life at West Point. 19 

man nothing to gain the whole world and lose his 
own soul. Since I first began to call upon God, I 
have daily asked his assistance and direction, and I 
feel that he is nearerme now than ever before. You 
know not to what temptations we are exposed here, 
yet he has not allowed me to be tempted further 
than I could bear. Whenever lethargy, indiffer- 
ence, or skepticism has crept over me, the remem- 
brance that our sister and brother died happy, 
trusting in God, has been an incentive to renewed 
effort to continue faithful to the end. I shall trust 
in God. If he intends me to occupy a high position, 
he will raise me to it ; if not, I shall be happy in 
having done my duty and in meeting his approval. 
There will be no limit to the opportunities of doing 
good in the army. There will be wounded soldiers 
to minister to, and the dying to comfort. Surely I 
can do good. These remarks may be premature ; 
but the conviction strengthens that we must have 
war. I thank God that none of my relatives will 
feel its horrors ; but I pity those where the conflict 
must occur. 

From the perusal of these letters we see that the 
loss of a beloved younger brother directed Upton's 
thoughts toward the future life. And, while his 
sister's letters kept him fully informed of the inci- 
dents of home-life, they also encouraged the grow- 
ing interest in his soul's welfare. 

He had passed through the troubles of his first 
encampment, had learned to yield unquestioned 
obedience to his superior officers, had mastered all 
the studies preceding those of the professional year, 



20 Emory Upton. 

and had measured himself with his comrades in the 
soldierly and intellectual race. As he had risen 
gradually in class-standing through his own merits, 
there became established in his mind a confidence 
in his own powers that removed from him any fear 
of ultimate failure. The regular habits enforced 
by the discipline of the academy had put his bodily 
functions in systematic working order and given 
him perfect health. His religious feelings were 
not, therefore, tinctured with the morbid fancies 
arising from ill-health in body or mind, but were 
really the awakenings of his moral manhood to the 
necessity of a dependence upon his heavenly Father. 
These rehgious seeds, first planted by his parents, 
and nurtured by his sister, took firm root in his 
nature, and afterward developed into a healthy 
growth, commensurate with the necessities of his 
after-life. 

He had escaped the dangers of that period of 
his youth when the rational faculties are first 
strongly developed and often run in wanton riot, 
their whole effect being too often to submerge the 
intellect in the bogs and quicksands of material- 
ism. Ever after, Upton was a deeply religious 
man in principle, in thought, and in action, and the 
evidences of this fact are readily traced through- 
out his subsequent career in all his words and 
deeds. 

His cadet comrades knew him to be a member 
of the church, of the Bible-class, and prayer-meet- 
ing, and they gave him the credit of being con- 
scientiously consistent in profession and in life. 
While this consistency exacted and obtained their 



Cadet-Life at West Point. 21 

respect and support, it also diverted from him the 
sneers and innuendoes which might be occasional- 
ly directed against less worthy and less consistent 
comrades. 

Up to this time Upton had secured the reputa- 
tion of being a reliable but not a brilliant scholar. 
A laborious student, faithfully doing his day's work 
in the day, he managed to exhibit in his recitations 
always a good knowledge of the subject-matter, but 
his early deficiency of expression even here pre- 
vented his ever making a thoroughly well-rounded 
and elegant recitation. What he learned, however, 
he retained, and constantly gave practical value to 
his knowledge by using illustrative facts to fix 
theoretical principles in his mind. His mathemat- 
ical training caused him to prove all things, to 
take nothing for granted, and pass, by consecutive 
logical processes, to the inevitable result. During 
this last year at the academy he was constantly 
looking forward to the time of his emancipation, 
not because of cnmii or mental fatigue, but rather 
because the practical application of principles was 
becoming a necessity to him. Mixed with these 
longings Avere the occasional retrospective glances 
in which the young frequently indulge. A few let- 
ters are here inserted to exhibit this phase of his 
student-life : 

West Point, Febmaty 5, 1S60. 

My dear Sister: ... I have just been dis- 
cussing with my room-mate our prospects as army- 
officers. My life really begins with the date of my 
commission. What will time disclose? I may meet 
with success, and I may have been educated but to 



2 2 Emory Upton. 

become the mark of a " red-skin." Our profession 
differs from all others. It is a profession of fate 
and a fatal profession. A long war would make 
many of us, and prove the grave of as many ; but 
you know it matters not how we meet death, pro- 
vided we are prepared for it. We must leave all 
to the dispensation of an all-wise Providence. 

West Point, June 3. i860. 
My dear Sister : . . . This is the anniversary 
of my arrival at West Point. Four years ago to- 
day, in the pride and buoyant spirits of a young 
military aspirant, I took my first lessons in military 
life. 'Tis pleasant to look back upon the past and 
compare it with the present. Four years of con- 
stant confinement and regular duties have passed, 
and we now stand on the threshold of our first 
class-year. Hard times and troubles are all over, 
and inviting scenes lie before us. One short year 
more, and the key which is to unlock the honors and 
emoluments of our profession will be delivered 
into our hands. I hope to do well, since my general 
standing in a great degree will depend on my ex- 
amination. Chemistry, infantry, artillery, and cav- 
alry tactics will follow the examination in ethics. 
Were it not for drawing, I should, without doubt, 
better my last year's standing. I shall probably 
not fall below it. The Secretary of War has de- 
cided not to grant us a leave. My only plea is a 
broken shoulder, got in the riding-hall, but, as I am 
getting " painfully smart," my hopes, even in that 
direction, are diminutive. You may, therefore, re- 
gard my leave as extremely doubtful, and even dis- 



Cadet-Life at West Point. 23 

miss it from your mind. I am very sorry to disap- 
point my loved ones. 

West Point, October 21, i860. 

My dear Sister : The Prince of Wales created 
a good deal of excitement here on Monday last. 
The plain was thronged with people eager to get a 
glimpse of the future King of England. We were 
drawn up in line in front of barracks to receive the 
prince. He and his suite were mounted and pre- 
ceded by a platoon of dragoons, as escort. As he 
came galloping along the line we came to " present 
arms." I never experienced such queer feelings 
before, and, had I not been under military disciphne, 
I believe my enthusiasm would have given vent to 
itself in cheers. The crowd was wild, but was 
doubtless somewhat restrained by the example of 
the corps. After the review, the officers of my 
class were introduced to his Royal Highness. I 
can now say that my rustic hand has grasped the 
hand of royalty. He has a kind and very pleasant 
countenance, and he will probably make a good if 
not a briUiant sovereign. The members of his suite 
are perfect gentlemen (General Bruce, Duke of 
Newcastle, Dr. Ackland, and others). They came 
into the engineering-rooms and I had quite an in- 
teresting conversation with them. They spoke Z?/;-^ 
English. We rode before them in the riding-hall 
with saddles, and then with blankets. One cadet 
was thrown almost off his horse, but he regained 
his seat with such skill and address as to make the 
prince clap his hands. After the ride, the prince 
expressed his admiration of our horsemanship to 
the officer in command. . . . 



24 Emory Upton. 

Bishop Mcllvaine, of Ohio, preached us a ser- 
mon last Sunday. He was chaplain here thirty 
years ago, and during his ministry a great revival 
took place. He attended our prayer-meeting and 
commenced to relate his experience here, but, un- 
fortunately, his interesting narrative was interrupted 
by the 'call to quarters.' West Point was then a 
hot-bed of infidelity, but he rooted it out, and his 
influence is felt to this day. I was introduced to 
him, and he gave me a warm invitation to visit him 
at Cincinnati next year. Please give me credit for 
not saying anything about my studies in this letter. 

West Point, October 28, i860. 

My dear little Sister: Your letter was duly 
received ; and, as it was full of information, it was 
read with no ordinary degree of satisfaction. You 
alone of the thirteen children remain at home. 
What a change ! One by one they have left the 
paternal roof, until you only are left " to honor thy 
parents." None of us can reproach our father and 
mother for neglect of duty. I can now appreciate 
the effect of the discipline under which we were 
trained. Rigid though it was at times, yet the 
chastisement was always given in love rather than 
in anger. Our characters were formed early ; and, 
hence, none of us when thrown upon our own re- 
sources have thus far disgraced our name. You 
are now my only home correspondent, and you 
must write all that transpires at home. Every letter 
you write has two values, one to yourself and one 
to the recipient ; therefore think not that your let- 
ters are worthless; they help to develop your men- 



Cadet-Life at West Point. 25 

tal faculties. . . . Education is not wholly acquired 
in the school-room. Accomplishments must result 
from mingling in society. Education and polite- 
ness make the accomplished lady. You will soon 
be sent away to school, but bear in mind that you 
can improve out of school. Every day, by close 
observation, you can discern more and more what 
is your duty. Observe the actions of others, but 
do so without evincing curiosity, for that were 
rude. 

From this time until near the close of Upton's 
cadet-life, the great questions which agitated politi- 
cal parties throughout the whole land, and excited 
the animosities of the people, had their influence 
among the cadets. Intimately associated by the 
ties of home and kindred with all parts of our coun- 
try, West Point exhibited in miniature the varying 
phases of sectional differences and of irreconcilable 
grievances. Brother cadets who had endured the 
same hardships, had exchanged the warmest and 
dearest confidences, had studied and roomed to- 
gether, began now to have wordy warfare, to foster 
animosities, and to look askance at each other. A 
segregation of the opposing elements took place; 
and, while there were many who, animated by the 
fire and zeal of their section, were ready to urge 
extreme measures, nearly all of the Southern cadets 
felt that the hour of separation, which was to tear 
them away from dearly loved friends and their be- 
loved West Point, was steadily but surely approach- 
ing, and that no man's hand was strong enough to 
prevent. Many left with great sorrow and reluc- 



26 Emory Upton. 

tance. Some that hesitated, torn by the conflicting 
emotions of duty and love, and of stern necessity, 
were hurried by a fate as inexorable as history re- 
cords. All left with a sorrow so great that manly 
tears dropped silently as they bade farewell to their 
comrades — now friends, but soon to be foes. As a 
type of the influences at work in the hearts and 
minds of these young men on both sides, so differ- 
ently reared in political thought and belief, and 
called upon to make choice, when apparently the 
foundations of government were being shaken to 
their center, the letters of Upton will exhibit an in- 
teresting picture. At this time, as well as for sev- 
eral years previous, the cadets had by some gradual 
process become separated into two parties, hostile 
in sentiment and even divided in barracks. This 
building of granite was separated really into two 
parts by the sally-port, and the cadets of Northern 
or Union principles lived mainly in the east wing, 
while the Southerners occupied the west and south 
wings. On Washington's birthday in 1861, when 
the band played the national airs at reveille, the 
hisses of the secessionists called forth the cheers of 
the Union men and roused them into a condition of 
active personal hostihty. From that moment the 
lines were sharply drawn, and, while not actually 
coming to open breaches of the peace, the segrega- 
tion became complete. The Northern spirit, diffi- 
cult to arouse, was tempered like steel, and the 
smallest incident served to bring the opposing prin- 
ciples into actual conflict. Little by little, however, 
the strength of the Southern wing diminished by 
resignation, until the few who were left contented 



Cadet-Life at West Point. 27 

themselves with silent endurance until all were 
finally eliminated. 

West Point, December i, i860. 

My dear Sister : You must pardon me, but I 
must introduce the general and all-absorbing topic 
of conversation — secession. What do people at 
home think of it? I believe the Union is virtually 
dissolved. South Carolina can not retract. Her 
honor demands that she secede, else she would be 
a " by-word." But secession is revolution. She 
will seize Fort Moultrie, and hence a collision with 
the General Government must follow. War would 
alienate all the other Southern States from the 
Union, and a terrible and bloody revolution will 
result. Every one in South Carolina is for dis- 
union, at least none dare avow themselves for the 
Union, and from the accounts in the New York 
daily papers I sincerely believe she will secede on 
the 1 8th or 19th of this month. If so, the North 
and the South will be speedily arrayed against 
each other, and the result will be that the North 
will be victorious. The South Carolina cadets 
published a manifesto a short time since as follows : 

" West Point, November 9, i860. 
*'7<? tJie Editor of the ' Columbia {S. C) Guardian.' 

" Mr. Editor — Sir : From what we have seen 
and heard. South Carolina will undoubtedly, at an 
early period, redeem her assertions, take her desti- 
nies in her own hands, and proceed at once to or- 
ganize for herself a new and separate government 
(a government of which our beloved Calhoun would 



28 Emory Upton. 

approve were he with us at this time), one in which 
the benefits are equally distributed to all. 

" Now we, her sons and representatives at the 
United States Military Academy at West Point, 
are eager to manifest our devotion and affection to 
her and her present cause ; so will we, simultaneous- 
ly with her withdrawal, be found under the folds of 
her banner, fighting for liberty or equahty. 

*' Though the reception of a diploma here at the 
National Academy is certainly to be desired by all 
of us, yet we can not so stifle our convictions of 
duty as to serve the remainder of our time here 
under such a man as Mr. Lincoln as commander-in- 
chief, and to be subjected at all times to the orders 
of a government the administration of which must 
be necessarily unfriendly to the Commonwealth 
which has so far preserved a spotless record, and 
of which we are justly proud. 

" We hereby swear to be true to her lone star 
in the present path of rectitude ; and if, by chance, 
she goes astray, we will be with her still. All we 
desire is a field for making ourselves useful." 

A Philadelphia paper exposed their class stand- 
ing here. " TJiree were deficient at the examina- 
tion, one ranked fifty-three out of a class of fifty- 
seven, and the remaining three had not appeared 
in the Register of Cadets." * I will state that two 
of the latter will be " found " this January examina- 
tion, one was recently placed in arrest for an offense 
equivalent to forgery, and which would dismiss him 

* Being new cadets, their names would not appear during their first 
year.— (P. S. M.) 



Cadet-Life at West Pomt. 29 

if brought before a court-martial. Three have re- 
signed (one left to-day), and the others will proba- 
bly follow soon. 

If the worst is to come and war follow, / am 
ready. I will take for my motto, ^' Dieti et inon 
droit.'' I will strive to do my full duty to God and 
my country, and willingly abide the consequences. 
I thank Fortune for having been given a military 
education here, and I will make myself useful. 
Always remember me to Judge Pringle. You 
know not under what obligations I feel to him. 
All my success in life I shall owe to him. I forbear 
writing more at present, and will await future de- 
velopments. 

West Point, December 21, i86o. 

Dear Sister : We are on general review in 
mineralogy and geology preparatory to our last 
January examination, and, possibly, our very last. 
These are delightful studies, and the method of in- 
struction here renders us very familiar with miner- 
als. Each rock has now its story for us. . . . The 
political horizon is very black. To-day's papers in- 
form us that South Carolina has seceded. The veil 
behind which Webster sought not to penetrate has 
been " rent in twain," and secession, w^ith its evils, 
is now a reality. Let her go. She has been a pest, 
an eye-sore, an abomination ever since she entered 
the Union. Were it not that her example may be- 
come contagious, few would regret her course ; but, 
in the present excited state of feeling at the South, 
there is imminent danger that the whole South will 
drift into the terrible gulf which secession opens 
before them. I believe in Union, but South Caro- 



30 Emory Upton. 

lina has taken the initiative, and she is responsible 
for whatever follows, and posterity will hold her 
so. Every friend of freedom will execrate her 
course. War, I believe, must speedily follow, and 
by her act. The papers say, " Buchanan has ordered 
the commandant of Fort Moultrie to surrender if 
attacked " ; if true, what a traitor ! Floyd has sent 
twenty-five thousand stand of arms to different 
Southern posts within the past year, and for what? 
Certainly not for the use of soldiers garrisoning 
them. What, then, is the inference? That they 
shall be convenient for secession. The Administra- 
tion must be deeply implicated in this plot to de- 
stroy the government. Its conduct can not be ex- 
plained otherwise. I heartily rejoice that Abraham 
Lincoln is elected, and that we have such a.noble 
set of Republicans at Washington to meet this criti- 
cal emergency. As for myself, I am ambitious, and 
desire fame, but I will stand by the right ; for what 
is the worth of fame when purchased by dishonor ? 
God orders or suffers all things. 

West Point, January 12, 1861. 

My dear Sister : This is examination-week. 
My reports have not been quite so good as you 
may have desired, but I shall be quite satisfied with 
the results of the examinations. . . . Truly troub- 
lous times are upon us. We are at sea, with no 
chart to guide us. What the end will be, our wisest 
statesmen can not foresee. The South is gone, and 
the question is, Will the Government coerce her 
back? The attempt, I think, will be made, but we 
can not predict the result. Southern men are brave, 



Cadet-Life at West Point. 31 

and will fight well, but their means for prosecuting 
a long war are wanting. Four States are now out 
of the Union, and South Carolina has fired the first 
gun. She has resisted the entrance of the Star of 
the West to Fort Sumter, and, no doubt, there 
will be bloodshed before you receive this, since the 
Brooklyn (man-of-war) is on the way to Charleston, 
and is bound to re-enforce that fort. . . . Members 
of my class continue to resign. The corps is al- 
ready sensibly reduced in numbers, and, from pres- 
ent prospects, we will almost be reduced to a moiety. 
Should the United States officers from the seceding 
States resign, there will be many vacancies, and, 
very probably, they would be filled by graduating 
us soon. ... In my next letter I will try to say 
nothing upon secession, but it is the absorbing topic 
of thought at present. 

West Point, February 2, 1861. 

My dear Brother : I have not heard from you 
in a long time. I want to ascertain your views on 
the subject of secession. It has assumed immense 
importance. The crisis has come. How is it to be 
met? The Union is in extreme peril. Must it be 
dissolved? No! I say, let it be preserved, if it 
costs years of civil war. What do you think of 
compromise ? I am opposed to it, as a dangerous 
precedent. If the Union could be preserved with- 
out compromise, even at the expense of a war, I 
think it would be preferable to a compromise, 
since it would demonstrate that a republican gov- 
ernment is adequate to any emergency. But, rather 
than see the country forever disrupted, I would 
prefer an honorable adjustment. These views I 



32 Emory Upton. 

take on the supposition that the South feels herself 
aggrieved, and that she desires to perpetuate the 
Union, if possible. Northern aggression is the al- 
leged, not the real, cause of secession. The Legis- 
lature of South Carolina declares she will not re- 
main in the Union under any circumstances. They 
are wild on the subject of a Southern confederacy, 
and they have resolved to establish it at the price 
of a revolution. If this is the real cause of seces- 
sion, the door to compromise should forever be 
closed, and the South should be completely subju- 
gated. In the Union, their property is and ought 
to be protected ; out of the Union, slavery is over- 
thrown. I hope some day to see it abolished peace- 
ably ; but, if they go out, they of themselves over- 
throw it in blood. It is a great evil, but we are not 
responsible. Let them answer for and settle it 
themselves. I believe that an all-wise Providence 
is directing the storm, and that he will overrule 
everything for good. . . . Several Southern cadets 
left to-day, and many more will follow soon. Pro- 
motion will be rapid in the army about the time we 
graduate, and if there is a war we will not lack em- 
ployment. Probably an assault will be made on 
Fort Sumter ; they will meet with a Avarm recep- 
tion. We are on our last term. Our studies — mili- 
tary engineering, law, ordnance, etc. — are very in- 
teresting and we look forward with great pleasure 
to our graduation. 

West Point, March 27, 1861. 

Dear Sister: Your remarks upon "Tories" 
were very appropriate. There is a large class at 
the North, and they will seriously affect the power 



Cadet-Life at West Point. 33 

of the Government. They are so servile that they 
would prefer to accept the terms of Jeff Davis, 
rather than fight for the honor of the North. I am 
entirely out of patience with them. Let slavery 
alone where it is, but never let it extend. Think of 
a slave republic in the nineteenth century ! The 
ignorant people of Italy are now fighting for liberty; 
the chivalous South is fighting for slavery. What a 
cause to fight for ; and still Northern traitors are 
taking commissions in the Southern army ! It is 
good for the army that they have resigned ; they 
are now in their proper places. It is no compliment 
to the cause to say that traitors are eager to defend 
it. I am impatient with the apathy of the North. 
The South is making ample preparations for war, 
while we " are lying supinely on our backs." Why 
are no steps taken to defend the Union ? If we have 
war (mark my words), Jeff Davis will be successful 
in one or two campaigns. He is energetic, and he 
is drawing all the talent he can from our army. He 
will enter the war with his forces well organized, 
and it can not be denied that Southern men will 
fight well; hence, what is to prevent his success 
for a time ? Every victory for him at the outset 
will require three defeats to offset. 

West Point, April %, 1861. 

My dear Sister : ... I am sincerely glad at 
the turn affairs have taken within the last few days. 
The Government has awakened from its apparent 
lethargy, and seems disposed to meet the difficul- 
ties with which it is beset. Unwonted activity is 
displayed at army rendezvous and at navy-yards. 



34 Emory Upton. 

My opinion is that war has actually begun. There 
is absence of news from Charleston. The tele- 
graph lines are down south of Petersburg, Virginia, 
which is a very suspicious circumstance. The gal- 
lant band at Fort Sumter may now be sacrificing 
their Hves in defense of our flag and for the honor 
of our country. This sacrifice will not be in vain. 
The acts of the Government are decidedly warlike, 
but not aggressive. Southern troops are assembling 
at Forts Pickens and Sumter ; this all means war ; 
it can not be evaded. Traitorous army officers are 
resigning daily. Let them go ; we want none but 
faithful men. I am glad to say that almost every 
Northern cadet is anxious and ready to serve the 
Government. War is a calamity, but an inevitable 
necessity. I think there will be a campaign this 
summer, else secession must back clean down, which 
is improbable. ... A letter was received to-day 
from Washington, stating that the Secretary of War 
and General Scott are in favor of graduating our 
class, and giving us commissions to fill vacancies 
now existing in the army. I am willing to be or- 
dered away immediately. A furlough would give 
little satisfaction when such exciting scenes are 
being daily enacted. I shall be glad when my aca- 
demic duties terminate. 

West Point, April Z, i86i. 

My very dear Sister: You will, before the 
reception of this, have heard the war news. The 
daily papers teem with exciting dispatches. Troops 
are moving in every direction. All, however, is 
speculation as to their destination and orders. I 
rejoice that the Government has taken its stand. 



Cadet-Life at West Point, 35 

Let it pursue a firm policy, and I am sure the North 
will support it. An attack on Fort Sumter is 
highly probable. The "Times" and "Herald" to- 
day state that provisions are on their way there, 
and that Anderson has orders to open his batteries 
if the vessel is fired upon. I hope Providence is 
overruling us, and that all will turn out for the best. 
The war will be forced upon us. We will be in the 
right, and let us maintain it as becomes freemen. 

I mentioned in my last letter that we might 
graduate soon. I hope we may if war begins. I 
want no holier cause than to defend the flag which 
Washington honored. Will you do me the favor 
to make a little flag (inclosed size), with tliirteen 
stripes and tliirty-four stars ? I want it for my per- 
sonal colors, to have always with me. With that, a 
small pocket Testament, and a just cause, I am ready 
for action, and willing to leave the issue in the hands 
of God. I shall hope to see you soon, whatever 
transpires. You must see West Point. I am having 
a very easy time — no military duty to perform, no 
roll-calls to attend, etc. — these are privileges of the 
office I now hold, Assistant Instructor of Artillery. 

Remember me most kindly to Judge Pringle. I 
owe all to him. His motive in appointing me seldom 
actuates other Congressmen. Most appointments 
are political favors. I told you the reason he as- 
signed for appointing me. 

West Point, ApnliT, 1861. 

My very dear Sister: Your very welcome 
letter was received to-day. I admire the feelings 
which dictated it. I rejoice that you are all willing 



J 



6 Emory Upton. 



that I should serve my country. That I should 
witness the worst horrors of war very soon, admits 
of no doubt, but I do not shrink from it. I shall 
have the pleasing and grateful knowledge that, 
every morning and evening, prayers will ascend for 
my protection and spiritual welfare. ... I am both 
surprised and delighted at the enthusiasm of the 
people in support of the Government. Every 
breath of treason in the North seems hushed. How 
remarkable ! One week ago, no one had any confi- 
dence. To-day, the voice is, " The Union must and 
shall be preserved ! " The attack on Fort Sumter 
has sealed the traitors* doom. 

Now for the ''petit" fiag. It is suspended over 
my alcove, where I can look at it by turning my 
eye. I shall carry it with me during the war in my 
breast-pocket. I shall look at it whenever neces- 
sary to stimulate my sense of duty, and I shall look 
at it often to call you into remembrance. I am 
much pleased with the letters I receive from every 
member of our family. All tell me to do my duty, 
and none would dissuade me. Nothing encourages 
me more, and I would like to have duty inculcated 
in every letter. I shall not have a furlough, and it 
is doubtful even if I return home for an hour. For 
mother's sake, I believe it is better that I should 
not. Thirty members of my class have applied to 
the Secretary of War to be graduated at once. The 
remainder (eighteen) are doubtful, and some ai-e 
traitors. They refused to sign the paper. The ap- 
plication has been laid before the superintendent. 
. . . The Government will know who are loyal 
and who are traitors. I think the latter will not get 



Cadet-Life at West Point. 37 

diplomas ; if they do graduate, I believe they will 
immediately join the C. S. A. ; one already holds a 
commission. Union meetings are held here almost 
every night. All the national airs, except " Hail 
Columbia," are sung. Cheers for the Union are 
loud and long. We are strong for the Union, now 
and forever. 

We may now cast a retrospective glance over 
the past five years, and determine the influences 
which the Academy had planted, fostered, and de- 
veloped in Upton's mental, moral, and physical na- 
ture. We find him, at his entrance into cadet-life, a 
raw country lad, with few of the graces and but 
little of the polish that mark the youth trained 
amid the elegancies of city life. But, deeply in- 
grained in his moral nature, there were fixed prin- 
ciples of integrity, devotion to duty, and filial and 
fraternal love, cemented by the powerful, ever-incit- 
ing activities of a religious mind. Thrown into 
a community where unquestioned obedience was 
at once required, discontent and active resistance 
would have unquestionably followed, had not the 
logic of its necessity soon found a lodgment and a 
hearty acceptance in his mind. A unit in an or- 
ganization governed by a system of regulations, 
whose direct results confirmed its wisdom, he soon 
gave his adhesion and support to the constituted 
authorities ; for, just as soon as he began to appre- 
ciate the fallacy of his reasoning as to the moral 
wrong of ''bad marks," these decreased in due pro- 
portion. 

For a proper understanding of the value of the 



38 Emory Upton. 

institution as a training-school for the military pro- 
fession, it may be well here to indicate briefly its 
essential characteristics, as devised by General 
Sylvanus Thayer, and which have for the past 
sixty years been practically unchanged. Previous 
to 1 8 19 it hardly deserved the name of a military 
school, there being nothing coherent or self-sustain- 
ing in its structure. Since that time, thanks to 
General Thayer's wonderful sagacity and able ad- 
ministration, and that of his able successors, it has 
been enabled to overcome all the difficulties which 
threatened its early existence, and to enter into a 
vigorous life, which as yet displays no sign of de- 
crepitude. 

It is governed immediately by the War Depart- 
ment, having the General of the Army as its inspect- 
or. Its superintendent is a distinguished officer of 
the army, appointed by the President for his es- 
pecial fitness for the responsible duties to which he 
is assigned. 

The functions of the Academy are twofold : 

1. To train the intellectual faculties by a course 
of instruction arranged in a settled curriculum, in 
which all graduates must be adjudged proficient 
before they can be recommended as fit for promo- 
tion into the several corps and line of the army. 

2. To utilize the drill and discipline of the vari- 
ous military evolutions as enforced physical exer- 
cise, at the same time aiming at a high degree of 
proficiency through the esprit de corps of the ca- 
dets. To accomplish these two objects the super- 
intendent has under him an academic board of pro- 
fessors, permanently attached to the Academy, and 



Cadet-Life at West Point. 39 

a much more numerous body of officers of the 
army in active service, temporarily detached from 
their regiments, and returnable to them at the ex- 
piration of their detail. These two bodies are, in 
some degree, antagonistic. The former are, from 
the nature of their duties, conservative ; the latter, 
by the varied service experienced in a small army 
scattered over a widely-extended country, are radi- 
cal and highly critical, if not iconoclastic. The 
healthy attack and defense of a system in which 
both are mutually interested results in slow, grad- 
ual, but permanently beneficial changes acquiesced 
in by both parties. The constant current of able 
officers coming from all parts of the army, imbued 
with its notions, and returning to it, carrying the 
knowledge of the work of the Academy, prevents 
stagnation, keeps its interest alive in the army, and 
insures a healthy and vigorous life. If the Academy 
were governed alone by its academic board, there 
would be danger of a too great extension toward 
merely theoretical excellence; while, if controlled by 
officers on the active list of the army, the practical 
art would be unduly developed at the expense of 
the solidly theoretical. This happy adjustment of 
differences has no counterpart in any foreign serv- 
ice, and has received the unqualified admiration of 
professional soldiers of all countries who have had 
the opportunity of studying its system, and observ- 
ing its practical benefits. 

The regulations established for the government 
of the cadets are explicit, and are devised to train 
them into systematic and regular habits. Viola- 
tions of regulations are followed by restrictions, 



40 Emory Upton. 

which are wisely corrective in their nature and not 
punitive. The immediate administration in quar- 
ters, at drill, and in military evolutions of all kinds, 
while supervised by army officers, is mainly con- 
fided to cadets who are judged by their comrades 
according to the impartial standards of equity and 
right in the performance of their duty. This instills 
a respect for authority, independent of the individ- 
ual exercising it for the time being, leads to an hon- 
orable rivalry for the coveted honors, and confers 
on the governors and governed the sense of person- 
al responsibility, which is essentially the pride and 
glory of the Academy. The daily exaction of many 
hours of hard study, cheerfully yielded by the cadet 
because of the impartial benefits received, results in 
a continuous growth of mental fiber and develops a 
self-reliance which finds its highest value in times of 
necessity, responsibility, or peril. 

And, finally, of higher value than all else, is the 
true soldierly honor which, ever jealously guai"ding 
the priceless jewel of truth, requires the sacrifice of 
life itself before the trust shall be betrayed or the 
flag dishonored. This devotion to truth guarantees 
to each member of the Academy a reliance on his 
word as an officer and a gentleman, and demands of 
him such conduct as shall be the manly outcome of 
noble and patriotic thoughts. 

Such was the atmosphere which had surrounded 
Upton during his cadetship at West Point. It was 
one well calculated to nourish and invigorate his 
moral growth, and to destroy the very germs of 
selfish actions. The system of responsibility toward 
his superiors, and the exercise of his power in his 



Cadet-Life at West Pohit. 41 

relation to his subordinates, happily balanced in 
their influence, led him to acquire a proper respect 
for authority, and a just discretion in its exercise. 
His intellect, quickened by the daily study, grew in 
due proportion Avith the manly vigor acquired from 
his physical exercise, and thus we find him well 
equipped at all points for the important duties 
which his chosen profession of necessity called him 
to perform amid the stern realities of war. 

His class graduated on the 6th of May, 1861. 
His academic rank was eight in a class of forty-five 
members. The Academic Board considered him 
fit to be honored by recommendation to the Secre- 
tary of War for promotion into the Engineers and 
all other corps and line of the army. He had, there- 
fore, justified the high expectations of his friend 
Judge Pringle, for he had reached the highest honor 
the Academy had to bestow. Notwithstanding this 
recommendation, he chose the artillery. With his 
comrades he was ordered to report without delay 
at Washington, where their services were sorely 
needed to drill and discipline the various regi- 
ments of volunteer troops gathered there in obe- 
dience to the call of the Government, preparatory 
to the arduous campaign then in contemplation. 



CHAPTER III. 

ACTIVE SERVICE AS A SUBALTERN. 

The great body of volunteers assembled at 
Washington in the spring of 1861, in obedience to 
the call of the President, although inspired by pa- 
triotic enthusiasm, was without discipline or mili- 
tary knowledge, save the little they had individually 
acquired by their service in the militia. To rem- 
edy these defects became, then, a matter of pressing 
necessity before the troops could with confidence 
be sent into the field. The War Department, doubt- 
less with this end in view, ordered the graduation 
of the two upper classes of the Military Academy, 
in order to utilize the services of these carefully 
trained and thoroughly disciplined young men in 
drilling the various regiments of volunteers. Up- 
ton's class was graduated on the 6th of May, and 
had completed all but a month of their five years* 
cadet service. They were in every way qualified 
for the responsible duties to which they were at 
once assigned. Imperative orders directed their 
immediate presence in Washington. Delaying but 
a few hours in New York to procure their arms 
and equipments for active service, many of them 
still in their cadet uniform, they hurried on to 
Washington, and were at once absorbed in the per- 
formance of the duty assigned them. 



Active Service as a Subaltern. 43 

Coming- as they did fresli from the Military 
Academy, accustomed to strict disciplinary prin- 
ciples, having a practical as well as a theoretical 
knowledge of military science, and with a high sense 
of honor, they were peculiarly fortunate in being 
at once associated with those patriotic men who 
formed the first levy of our volunteer army. 

They could not help being ennobled by intimate 
association with the men who, in the highest spirit 
of self-sacrifice, had given up every worldly interest, 
as well as family and home, and who stood ready 
to yield life itself in order that the Union might be 
preserved. 

The influence of such men upon these active and 
high-spirited young regulars can never be wholly 
understood, except in the light of the remarkable 
success that the latter attained by the hearty co- 
operation of the former ; and the regular army of 
to-day shows that the patriotic and devoted sacrifice 
of our volunteer soldiery has had an absorbing in- 
fluence upon its present temper and discipline. 

The complete story of the great civil war can 
never be fully written until the faithful historian 
has, by careful study and patient effort, constructed 
the mosaic from the tiny bits of personal and official 
experience scattered here and there in almost inex- 
tricable confusion. Each individual actor in the 
great conflict has his part to play, and his story has 
its place in the completed picture. 

Upton was a faithful correspondent, and the let- 
ters to his relatives kept them well informed of his 
movements, and of the events which came under 
his immediate notice. 



44 Emory Upton, 

In the delineation of his character, it is sufficient 
for our purpose to give copious extracts from his 
letters, believing that these were the true expression 
of his thoughts, motives, and actions, at the time of 
writing, and this is our excuse for using his own 
words in telling the story of his life. 

Washington, D. C, May 8, 1861. 

My dear Sister : From New York we took the 
6 p. M. train for Philadelphia. Everything passed 
off quietly until we arrived in the City of Brotherly 
Love. There we were met by a strong police force, 
and all were arrested for secessionists. We were 
utterly unprepared for the descent, and a fight was 
imminent ; but the police explained the matter, and 
we followed them to the station-house (Independence 
Hall). We were taken into the Rogues' Gallery, 
and there deposited our swords and revolvers, and 
awaited the arrival of Mayor Henry. We showed 
him our orders from the War Department, which, 
of course, was sufficient evidence of our character. 
Our arms were returned, and, on the supposition 
that the train had left, we went to the Continental 
to put up for the night at the city's expense. The 
cause of our arrest was a telegram from the Mayor 
of Jersey City, stating that forty Southern cadets 
were on the train, and that their baggage contained 
small-arms for the South. Under the circumstances 
the arrest was justifiable. On our arrival in Wash- 
ington we reported to Colonel Lorenzo Thomas. 
We have not been assigned to corps yet, but may 
be to-morrow. I can go into the Engineers by sim- 
ply saying the word, but I think strongly of the 



Active Service as a Subaltern. 45 

Third Infantry, which is now on its way here. To- 
morrow we commence drilling volunteers, our first 
duty as officers of the army. 

Washington, May 20, 1861. 
My dear Sister : I have now really commenced 
life. No longer a cadet, I am now my own master. 
How different the circumstances! West Point is 
in the past. What lies in the future, God only 
knows ! I trust it may be a prosperous and useful 
career. The time here passes very fast. I worked 
really hard last week, but do not complain, when I 
think how much harder the poor privates have to 
work. 

Upton having reported to the Adjutant-General 
of the Army, was assigned as second-lieutenant to 
the Fourth Regiment of Artillery, and directed to 
report to Brigadier-General Mansfield, command- 
ing the troops around Washington. General Mans- 
field directed him to drill the Twelfth New York 
Regiment, Colonel Daniel Butterfield commanding, 
and he was continued on this duty until May 27th, 
when he was selected as aide-de-camp by Brigadier- 
General Daniel Tyler, commanding the First Divis- 
ion of the Department of Northeastern Virginia. 
This officer had graduated from West Point in 18 19, 
and had remained in service until 1834, after which 
he had been actively employed in constructing and 
managing railroads in various parts of the United 
States. But at the first call to arms, and at the 
sacrifice of his personal interests, he promptly of- 
fered his services to the Government, and appeared 



46 Emory Upton. 

in Washington at the head of a Connecticut bri- 
gade. Although then over sixty-two years of age, 
he still possessed an active and vigorous mind, a 
quick and clear perception, and was thoroughly 
alive to the importance of the vast undertaking of 
the new Administration. Personally a brave man, 
and controlled by the most patriotic motives, he 
was, without doubt, one of the best commanders 
under whom Upton could at that time have found 
service. He very readily and properly estimated 
the undeveloped military qualities of his young aide, 
and, after a short acquaintance, predicted the great- 
est success for him in his military career. 

The letters which follow exhibit the first im- 
pressions of our young soldier upon his entrance 
into actual service : 

Washington, May 24, 1861. 

My dear Sister: The excitement here con- 
tinues unabated — in fact, has increased yesterday 
and to-day. Last night about eight thousand troops 
crossed Long Bridge and encamped on the soil of 
Virginia. This move is the initiative of the war. 
How soon a pitched battle will be fought I know 
not, but one must come soon. I am trying my best 
to be present, but fear I shall be unsuccessful. To- 
day I made application to be assigned to a battery 
of light artillery, and to-night was told that as 
soon as an officer was wanted I would be detailed. 
The Twelfth New York, to which I was assigned, 
is now on Arlington Heights. I am now on duty 
with the Second Connecticut, and shall commence 
drilling them to-morrow. 



Active Service as a Subaltern. 47 

Washington, June i, 1861. 

Dear Sister: I leave for Virginia to-night at 
twelve o'clock, aide-de-camp to General Tyler. I 
will have a horse to ride, and good quarters. My 
position is admirable. I take your flag with me. 

Camp opposite Washington, June btk. 
My dear Sister : I had quite an incident on the 
night of the march here. We were under orders 
to march at midnight, to relieve the Twelfth New 
York at Roach's Mills. I told General Tyler that 
there were some officers of the Twelfth in Wash- 
ington, and that they could tell me the route to 
travel. I mounted my horse and set off for their 
quarters, with permission to cross the river and re- 
connoitre the roads leading to the camp of the 
Twelfth. I got on very well until I reached the 
center of Long Bridge. There I found that I had 
the wrong countersign. I showed that I was the 
bearer of dispatches, and they let me pass on. I 
had not proceeded far before I was halted by a 
Jersey sentinel, and, not having the countersign, he 
would not let me pass. I was referred to the officer 
of the guard. He sent me to the colonel, but, not 
satisfying him of my character and mission, he sent 
me to General Runyon, who forwarded my orders (I 
was in uniform), but would not release me. He sent 
his aide to General McDowell, at Arlington, to as- 
certain my character, and, the general being absent, 
his adjutant-general. Captain Fry, wrote a note 
stating that I was all right. I was consequently re- 
leased, and he gave me the countersign, and instruc- 
tion to the sergeant of the guard to pass me over 



48 Emory Upton. 

the lines. Before passing the lines, I asked the ser- 
geant what the countersign was, so as to be sure. 
Immediately he halted me and would not let me 
proceed, until he had sent back to the general to 
know whether I had it or not. Finally, after a de- 
tention of two hours, I was released. While in the 
general's tent I was guarded by three officers, who 
took up strategic positions — two slightly in front, 
the other in rear of me — all armed with revolvers. 
I had just cleared the lines, when I met General 
McDowell, who had heard of my arrest in Wash- 
ington, which had been telegraphed to the War De- 
partment, and was on his way to General Runyon 
to release me. I saw him at Arlington a few days 
ago, and he told me I would have to pardon the 
volunteers, for, in their zeal, they often stopped 
army officers, not excepting himself. 

We arrived at Roach's Mills at 5 A. M. Sunday 
morning. I was then sent out to survey a camp- 
ground, which took till about noon. I then man- 
aged to get about an hour's sleep, the first I had 
had since the night previous. Yesterday General 
Tyler sent me out to find the shortest distance from 
Suter's or Shorter's Hill to Roach's Mills. I started 
about 9 A. M., and, while the distance is about three 
miles, after following the various roads to their 
termini, I finally reached this hill at about one 
o'clock. I dined with Colonel Farnham, of the Fire 
Zouaves, and then returned. I found that Major 
Speidel had posted his sentinels in an open field, and 
partly in rear of the line of sentinels belonging to a 
Michigan regiment. I assumed the responsibility 
of throwing Speidel's sentinels farther to the front, 



Active Service as a Subaltern. 49 

and posted them along a road leading from our 
camp through a large wood to an open field, 
thence along a wood-path leading around the field 
to a small corn-field, where I posted one sentinel, 
another on the other side of the field, and three 
more made our line connect with the Michigan line, 
which extends to Suter's Hill. 

After doing this, I reported to the colonel what 
I had done, and requested Major Speidel to return 
with me. The major did not hke my interference, 
but he said but little. We took a picket of forty 
men and set out again. I rode with him up to the 
first Michigan sentinel, and showed him the route 
our regiment would have to follow in case we were 
to re-enforce Suter's Hill, should it be attacked. He 
immediately fell in with the idea, and called in all 
his useless sentinels and threw them on the line that 
I had first designated. I returned then to head- 
quarters and told General Tyler what I had done, 
accompanying my explanation with a map. When 
he understood it, he said emphatically two or three 
times : " That is right ; you will do hereafter to go 
out on your own hook." This was my first compli- 
ment from him. I know not why it is, but I stand 
very well here in the estimation of general officers. 

When at Suter's Hill, Lieutenant Snyder [who 
had been at Fort Sumter] told me that they would 
like to have me for an aide-de-camp to Colonel 
Heintzelman. General Tyler last night told me that 
he should try to keep me as long as he was in serv- 
ice, and that it was very probable that I would be 
put on McDowell's staff, who commands all the 
forces on this side. 
3 



50 Emory Upton. 



Fraser's, Va., June 17, 1861. 

My dear Sister: We are comfortably settled 
here, but to-day or to-morrow we shall move to 
Roach's Mills. You need not worry about me, for 
I have all that I want to eat. I mess with the gen- 
eral, and, as he likes good things and has plenty of 
money, we lack no comforts when they can be ob- 
tained. We now have the First and Second Con- 
necticut Volunteers on this side of the river, and 
the Eighth and Twenty-fifth New York are also 
brigaded with us. 

Virginia does not compare very well with Gene- 
see County. Once in a while we find a good farm, 
but generally the fences are down and the buildings 
are old and rickety. Yesterday the general and 
myself went on the cars with four hundred men of 
the First Connecticut Volunteers to Vienna, on the 
Loudon and Hampshire Railroad. Our object was 
to ascertain whether the road had been disturbed 
by the rebels. At Vienna the ladies welcomed us 
by waving handkerchiefs ; they were truly glad to 
see us. The rebels had been there two days before 
us, and had taken up the lead pipes for bullets. On 
our return a shot was fired at our men, and took 
effect in the left shoulder of a soldier standing next 
to General Tyler. The train was stopped, and the 
men were thrown into the woods as skirmishers. 
When I got out of the cars they were firing very 
rapidly, and I thought then we were going to have 
a good fight, as we knew there were secesh troops 
within six miles when we passed up. 



Active Service as a Subaltern. 51 

Fall's Church, Va., July i, 1861. 

My dear Sister: Is mother as brave as she 
ought to be? Does she prefer to have me here 
rather than at home ? If she does not, hereafter I 
will say nothing of projects. Patriotism now should 
rule affection. I hope she looks at it in this light. 
We hope to celebrate the 4th of July at Fairfax 
Court-House. Whether the move will involve a 
battle I know not, but I hope it will. Our army has 
insults to avenge and a flag to defend. Would it 
not be a glorious celebration of that day to meet 
and defeat the enemies of our country ? Yesterday 
two companies of the Third Connecticut captured 
two prisoners and four horses. An ambush was 
placed within two and a half miles of the chivalrous 
First South Carolina. The force was the advanced 
guard of about thirty or forty of Radford's rangers. 
A little more coolness and discretion would have 
enabled them to capture the whole squad. They 
were very athletic, vigorous men, and one was 
very courageous and would not give up for some 
time. They were exceedingly mortified, and I really 
pitied them. I will fight before I will deliver my 
sword. 

I can remain with General Tyler as long as I 
please. I know he does not want me to leave, for he 
has taken the trouble to write to the Assistant Adju- 
tant-General to have me detached, and I think he 
saw the Secretary of War on the subject. The Fifth 
United States Artillery is now organizing at Harris- 
burg, and will not be in the field within two months. 
Before the expiration of that period there will be 
hard fighting, and were I to join my company I 



52 E7nory Upton. 

should lose it all. When it gets into the field I 
think I shall join it, as I wish to win the reputation 
of being a good artillery-officer. I have been where 
I expected a fight, but have not been gratified as 
yet. 

Fall's Church, Va., July 9, 1861. 

My dear Sister : Your good letter found me 
houseless and homeless. General Tyler has turned 
over the command of the Connecticut brigade to 
Colonel Keyes, and with it our tents, of course. He 
has not yet located his headquarters, and until then 
we must trust to our friends for protection. Lieu- 
tenant Hascall occupies the same position on Colo- 
nel Keyes's staff which I did on General Tyler's, 
before he was relieved. I meet many of my old 
West Point instructors daily. Captain Baird (mathe- 
matics) is on our staff ; Captain Vincent (chemistry) 
is on General Schenck's staff ; Colonel McCook, of 
tactics, who had my company ; Colonel Howard, 
Captain Williams, and many others. Professor 
Mahan was out to see us to-day. He has a very 
hearty shake of the hand, which I regard as a good 
index to any man's character. It seems quite 
strange to associate with these men on terms of 
equality. I should like to accompany you in your 
visit at any other time than this ; but you know 
an opportunity will soon present itself for me to 
be under fire, and I would not miss it for all the 
world. 

During the next nine days, the preliminary move- 
ments had all taken place by which McDowell's 
army had been placed face to face with the enemy. 



Active Service as a Subalterji. 53 

Our young soldier had been active and zealous in 
his duty, and had gained the confidence of his gen- 
eral. The latter, in command of the First Division, 
had, in obedience to the orders of the i6th and i8th 
of July, moved against Centreville, and had ad- 
vanced as far as Blackburn's Ford on Bull Run. In 
the action which this advanced movement had 
brought about, Upton had aimed the first gun and 
was in the successful charge made by the First 
Massachusetts and Second and Third Michigan 
Regiments against the enemy's position. In this 
charge he displayed great coolness and dash, and, 
although he was wounded in the left side and arm 
by a musket-ball, he did not quit the field, but re- 
mained at his post of duty, receiving the commen- 
dation of his general for his gallantry. His high 
anticipations of success against the armed enemies 
of the country were not realized; and, while the 
result of the battle of Bull Run dampened his hopes, 
it did not weaken his faith in the ultimate success 
of the cause. 

His great disappointment at the result of this 
promising movement is feelingly portrayed in this 
short but pithy note to his sister : 

July 22, 1861. 

My dear Sister: I regret to say we are de- 
feated. Our troops fought well, but were badly 
managed. 

The only other letter referring to the battle was 
written several months after, and refers to a chance 
meeting with Mr. Lovejoy : 



54 Emory Upton. 

Alexandria, November 25, 1861. 

My dear Sister : You spoke of the Hon. Owen 
Lovejoy. Did I tell you about meeting him at Bull 
Run? If not, I'll tell you now. General Tyler's 
division crossed Bull Run about forty rods above 
Stone Bridge. I crossed with the Sixty-ninth New 
York, and passed up the opposite bank through a 
ravine. We had marched but a few rods when we 
came upon a regiment of secessionists. We were 
about eight rods from them, and not knowing them 
to be secessionists we asked them. I was between 
them and the leading company, and of course rode 
around the company so that they might open fire. 
I had but got behind it when my horse was shot and 
mortally wounded. I dismounted, and remained 
until the enemy ran, when we ceased firing and re- 
sumed the march. I saw my horse a short distance 
back, and went to him and took off his saddle. I 
then went forward to a small house where the 
wounded were being carried. I saw there an old 
horse, and, as I was an aide-de-camp, I mounted 
him. I asked for his owner, and Mr. Lovejoy made 
his appearance. He was assisting in taking care of 
the wounded, and had exposed his life freely. I 
told him I was an aide and my horse had been shot, 
and asked for his. He gave him to me immediate- 
ly, and I consigned to his care a valuable field-glass. 
I rejoined the staff, and changed the horse with an 
orderly. On the retreat my arm pained me, and I 
procured a steady horse belonging to the quarter- 
master's department, Mr. Lovejoy's horse was 
ridden by a member of our staff, and was returned 
to him in Washington. I have a high respect for 



Active Service as a Subaltern. 55 

Mr. Lovejoy, because he fights for his principles 
and is a brave man. 

Upon recovering from his wound, Upton, having 
been assigned to the artillery, was ordered, August 
14, 1 861, to duty in Battery D, Second United States 
Artillery, which was located in the defenses of 
Washington, south of the Potomac. During the in- 
terval of rest and reorganization of the Army of the 
Potomac, he remained at Alexandria with his bat- 
tery, which was commanded by Captain Richard 
Arnold until the latter part of October, then by 
Captain Piatt, and, before leaving again for active 
service, by Upton himself. In the daily routine of 
camp-life there was much to be done to make the 
battery efficient for field-service, and that this was 
thoroughly well done, both by officers and men, was 
shown in its subsequent record. The few incidents 
well to note before the beginning of the Peninsular 
campaign, as well as the impressions that occupied 
his mind, are given in the following letters : 

Arnold's Battery, Alexandria, August 31, 1861. 

My dear Sister: Since I last wrote you we 
have again changed camp. Captain Arnold sent 
me forward to locate our ground, and has honored 
me by naming the camp after me. We are on high 
ground, and not so far from the enemy as before. 
Our brigade is now commanded by General Mitch- 
ell (the renowned astronomer). I hope he may be 
as proficient in the science of war as in astronomy. 
Everything is quiet in front ; occasionally there is 
picket-firing. Yesterday I visited our pickets at 



56 Emory Upton. 

Bailey's Cross-roads, and saw again the secession 
flag, and heard the discharge of musketry. Our 
pickets were then having a brush with theirs. One 
of their officers was shot. His rank is not known, 
but he was probably a valuable officer, for the flag 
was lowered to half-mast, and remained so during 
the day. They have a field-work one and a quarter 
miles from Bailey's, on Munson's Hill, I have been 
on the hill, but it was when at Fall's Church. They 
could easily be dislodged by planting two batteries 
— one at Bailey's, the other near Willie Throckmor- 
ton's house — and attacking them with infantry be- 
tween the batteries. ... I paid a visit to the officers 
of the Second Maine, and they gave me a hearty 
welcome. You will remember that we charged up 
the hill together. I saw the color-bearer who be- 
haved so nobly, carrying forward our flag, planting 
it until the men came up, and then carrying it for- 
ward again. If I ever attain a position to reward 
anybody, he shall be remembered. 

Alexandria, September 30, 1861. 

My dear Sister : Yesterday we had a regular 
field-day. We marched at 5 A. M. for Bailey's 
Cross-roads, and on arriving there found Munson's 
Hill in possession of our troops. We then marched 
for Mason's Hill, where the rebels also had fortifica- 
tions, but they had deserted them. My section was 
brought into battery commanding the Fairfax road, 
but as only a few cavalry showed themselves at 
times we did not fire. We returned to Bailey's at 
3 P. M., and encamped, expecting to remain there 
all night, but at supper orders were received to 



Active Service as a Subaltern. 57 

return to our old camp. In twenty minutes we 
were ready to move, and at half-past seven were at 
our old home. The works at Munson's and Mason's 
Hills were mere scarecrows — nothing but shells 
which I could and did ride my horse right over. 
At Munson's they had a wooden Colmnbiad pointed 
over the parapet, which gave rise to the report that 
they had heavy guns. 

The conduct of our troops was disgraceful be- 
yond expression. They burned buildings, destroyed 
furniture, stole dishes, chairs, etc., killed chickens, 
pigs, calves, and everything they could eat. They 
would take nice sofa-chairs, which they had not the 
slightest use for, and ten minutes after throw them 
away. Talk about the barbcirity of the rebels ! I 
believe them to be Christians compared to our 
thieves. The houses entered yesterday belonged 
mostly to Union people, yet they were unmolested 
by the rebels. One of our volunteer majors walked 
up to a looking-glass, worth about twenty dollars, 
and deliberately put his foot through it. I wish I 
had witnessed it. He would have had the benefit 
of a court-martial. 

Alexandria, October \, 1861. 
My dear Sister : I want you to cease worrying 
about me. It does no good either to yourself or 
me, and it gives me no comfort whatever. You 
have the New York papers daily, and undoubtedly, 
were accident to befall me, you would hear of it 
through them first. If I am to be killed in battle, 
no earthly power can avert it. My fate I know not. 
Whatever it may be I am ready and willing to meet 



58 Emory Upton. 

it. I am fighting for rigJit, and trust in God to de- 
fend me. If it be his will I desire no more happy 
or glorious death than on the battle-field in the 
defense of our flag. I owe all to the Government, 
and, in return, the Government shall have all. Per- 
haps I shall have a great mission to perform ; if so, 
I shall not fail to ask wisdom from " Him who 
giveth liberally and upbraideth not." You spoke 
of mother's prayers — they are offered in faith. I 
wish I had her steadfastness. 

It is now quite probable that we shall remain 
here for some time. I hope not, but if not ready it 
is expedient to remain on the defensive. The great 
points of interest are now Missouri and Kentucky. 
Two big battles may be expected very soon, one in 
each State ; but the grand one will take place when 
the Army of the Potomac takes the offensive. 

Alexandria, November 13, 1861. 

Dear Sister : My views are not changed ; I am 
opposed to Southern slavery in every form, viewed 
in any light — political, social, or moral. I have 
taken an oath " to bear true allegiance to the United 
States," and I hope to observe that oath. Slavery 
is the cause of the rebellion, and I believe it is God's 
providence that it shall be overthrown. It will be 
the consequence, not the effect, of the war. After 
the war is ended there will be a great influx of 
Northern men into the Southern States ; their views 
will gradually triumph and slavery must yield. The 
rebels wish to establish a monarchy, and are fighting 
for that object. We are fighting for the Govern- 
ment, and against that object. 



Active Service as a Subalte?'n. 59 

Alexandria, November 23, 1861. 

My dear Sister : Time passes so rapidly now 
that it is hard to take cognizance of it. This is a 
cold, bleak night, and the poor soldiers at the out- 
posts must suffer from cold ; our men even suffer in 
their tents. I can hardly look forward to winter 
without a shudder — not that I have any anxiety for 
myself, but for the private soldier, whose covering 
for the night is but one thin blanket. 

Alexandria, March 26, 1862. 

My dear Sister : We are still at Alexandria, 
expecting to embark, but not knowing exactly when, 
possibly on Sunday. We bide our time patiently, 
knowing that hard fighting awaits us. We are 
promised the first blow, and hope to give it soon. 
Yesterday the ladies at Commodore Wilkes's pre- 
sented the company with an elegant American flag 
for a guidon. I told them I would never return 
unless the flag did, and the promise shall be kept. 

General McDowell reviewed his corps yester- 
day. It is forty thousand strong, and has sixty- 
eight pieces of artillery. As he was riding along he 
asked, " Which is Upton's battery ? " which shows 
I am known to him. Give me one chance, and I 
shall be quite contented ; and, if I don't acquit myself 
with honor, you will never see me again. 

It does not fall within the scope of this memoir 
to analyze or to discuss the great campaigns of the 
war, and it is sufficient for our purpose, in describ- 
ing the fortunes of a junior officer, to give a mere 
outline of the important movements, dwelling alone 



6o Emory Upton. 

on those events which had their influence in his 
military development, and in which he was an 
actor. 

The Army of the Potomac after the battle of 
Bull Run was without organization and discipline. 
Although its elements were as good as this country 
could then furnish, it could not be made an efficient 
instrument for the defense of the country, or the 
suppression of the rebellion, without organization 
and enforced discipline. Neither men nor officers 
knew how to take care of their own health, how to 
cook their rations, or to shelter themselves from in- 
clement weather. These things are learned only 
by bitter experience. The reports of the regiment- 
al and other commanders of the Army of the Poto- 
mac, of the chief medical officer, the quartermaster- 
general, the commissary-general, and other staff- 
officers, if attentively read, will be found full of in- 
struction on these points. They clearly show that 
an army is something more than a body of armed 
and uniformed citizens gathered in haste from their 
civil pursuits. 

From the time when McClellan took command 
of the Army of the Potomac until it moved to the 
Peninsula the improvement in its efficiency was 
marked and permanent. Without this improvement 
it never could have so well performed its allotted 
task, nor become the great dependence upon which 
the Government could with security rely. 

McDowell's corps, originally intended to form 
part of the army by which McClellan was to ad- 
vance on Richmond by way of the James River 
Peninsula, was, at the last moment, retained as a 



Active Service as a Subaltern. 6i 

cover to Washington. Upton's battery belonged 
to Franklin's division of this corps, and it was not 
until April 22d that this division reported to Mc- 
Clellan at Yorktown. On May 7th it effected a 
landing at West Point, Va., overcoming at that 
place a spirited resistance on the part of the enemy. 
In this engagement Upton handled his battery with 
coolness, and it was commended for its excellent 
firing by General Franklin in his report. Upton was 
now where he had all along desired to be — in actual 
service, in the command of a battery of artillery. 
The reputation of a battery is that of its captain. 
The latter must be cool yet resolute, quick of eye, 
decided in character, incapable of demoralization, 
and daring enough to gather all the fruits which his 
position and opportunities offer. These traits Up- 
ton possessed thoroughly. He had that coup d'ceil 
militaire which enabled him at a glance to gather 
in all the peculiarities of the military position, and 
which were at once indelibly printed in his mind, 
ready for utilization at the critical moment. The 
uproar of battle steadied him and gave him the 
full and active possession of his faculties. It is to 
these qualities we must attribute the high praise 
which his conduct evoked on the part of every 
commander with whom he served. 

From West Point he moved with Franklin's 
division to the Chickahominy ; and at the battle of 
Gaines Mills, June 27th, we find his battery assigned 
to the brigade of General John Newton, and with 
it participating in the action, doing excellent serv- 
ice in this stubborn contest. 

During the seven days' battle on the retreat to 



62 Emory Upton. 

the James River, Upton's battery performed a dis- 
tinguished part, especially at the battle of Glendale 
or Charles City Cross-roads. In this action Upton 
was in Slocum's division of the Sixth Corps, who 
says in his report of the battle that " the artillery 
commanded by Upton and Porter was exceedingly 
well served," and that " the position was mainly de- 
fended by the artillery, which on this, as on all 
other occasions, was most admirably served. Of 
Upton's battery (D), Second Artillery, and Porter's 
battery (A), First Massachusetts Artillery, I can 
not speak too highly. The officers and men of both 
these batteries have on all occasions manifested that 
coolness and bravery so necessary to this branch of 
the service." 

We next hear of Upton through the official re- 
ports at Crampton's Gap, Md. In the mean time 
McClellan's army had been withdrawn from the 
James ; Pope had fought unsuccessfully the second 
battle of Bull Run ; and McClellan had again been 
put in command of the Army of the Potomac, and 
was following after Lee, to cut him off or bring him 
to battle, during his invasion of Maryland. The 
affair at Crampton's Gap, September 14, 1862, was 
one of the minor actions preliminary to Antietam, 
September 17, 1862. Upton was at that time in 
command of the Artillery Brigade of four batteries, 
twenty-six guns, of the First Division of the Sixth 
Army Corps. He had obtained this position as a 
just reward for his success in the previous cam- 
paign, and the promotion being within the prov- 
ince of his immediate commanders to bestow, was 
a marked evidence of his own merit. His letters 



Active Service as a Subalte^'n, 63 

and the extracts from official reports show clearly 
the part he had taken in the Antietam campaign. 

Camp near Bakersville, Md., September 27, 18C2. 

My dear Sister: The pleasant campaign of 
Maryland .has closed with the expulsion of the rebel 
invaders. From the time we left Alexandria (the 
second day after my return) till the close of the 
battle of Antietam, I never spent any hours more 
agreeably or enjoyed myself better. We lived well, 
marched through a lovely country, had beautiful 
weather, magnificent scenery, and above all two 
glorious battles. At the battle of Crampton's Gap, 
although not actively engaged, I was under fire. It 
was, however, at the battle of Antietam that I had 
full swing. The artillery is a pretty arm, and makes 
a great deal of noise. From 2 p. m. till dark we fed 
the rebels on shells, spherical case, and solid shot. 
They did not appreciate our kindness, and enter- 
tained us in like manner. Shells and case-shot I 
don't care anything about, but round shot are great 
demoralizers. The sharp-shooters were very busy 
all the time, and annoyed us very much. I took 
my field-glass and stepped behind a gate-post to 
rest it, so that I could get a steady view. The in- 
stant I got behind it, the post was struck by a 
Mini6-ball. It is no exaggeration to say that I was 
fired at a dozen times during the day. The infantry 
fighting was terrible. I do not believe there has 
been harder fighting this century than that between 
Hooker and the rebels in the morning. I have 
heard of the "dead lying in heaps," but never saw 
it till at this battle. Whole ranks fell together. 



64 Emory Upton. 

The trials of some of the wounded were horrible. 
I did not know it at the time, but, during all our fir- 
ing, a wounded rebel lay under a fence about forty 
feet in front of the muzzles of our guns. Between 
their roar and the bursting shells from his own 
friends, the poor fellow must have suffered beyond 
conception. One of our captains lay wounded in a 
brick school-house, through which several of our 
shells and solid shot passed, hurling the bricks in 
every direction, but, strange to say, not injuring him. 
He died of his wound the next day. His dying 
message was to tell his friends that '' he had been 
in nine battles, and that he died a brave man." A 
good soldier. 

In regard to the part played by Upton at Antie- 
tam. Colonel Irving, one of the brigade command- 
ers of the Second Division of the Sixth Corps, re- 
ports : 

"About half-past four o'clock. Captain Upton, 
Chief of Artillery of Slocum's division, rode to my 
line, and, after we had examined the ground in front 
of the left attentively, I decided to accept the bat- 
tery which he earnestly advised me to have placed 
there. Not a minute could be lost; the enemy were 
massing in front with the evident design of throw- 
ing a powerful column against my left, and they 
could not be seen except from that part of the line. 
I instantly sent word to Major-General [Wm. F.] 
Baldy Smith, who approved the movement, and I 
requested Captain Upton to order up the battery, 
which came into action very promptly and opened 
with three rifled guns, which, after playing on the 



Active Service as a Subaltern. 65 

masses of the enemy with great effect for half an 
hour, were withdrawn, and their places supplied by 
a battery of Napoleon guns, the fire of which was 
very destructive ; these guns were of inestimable 
value to us, and the coolness and the precision with 
which they were served deserve the highest com- 
mendation, and it gives me great pleasure to ac- 
knowledge how much I was indebted to Captain 
Upton, and to the officers and men under his com- 
mand." 



CHAPTER IV. 

SERVICE AS A REGIMENTAL AND BRIGADE COM- 
MANDER. 

Upton's peculiar fitness for the profession of 
arms was evident to all who came in contact with 
him, and the impression made by his intrepidity in 
battle was not easy to forget. The attention of 
the authorities of the State of New York was 
early directed toward those officers of the regular 
army who were fit to command its regiments, and 
likely to reflect honor upon the State ; and the 
choice fell upon Upton for the command of the 
One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment, New 
York Volunteers. This regiment had been raised 
in Herkimer and Otsego Counties, in obedience to 
the call of the President in August, 1862, for three 
hundred thousand volunteers. By August 30th the 
regiment was ready to leave for the front, under the 
command of Colonel Richard Franchot. On the 
3d of September it reached Washington ; on the 
14th and 17th it participated in the battles of Cramp- 
ton's Gap and Antietam, and on the 23d of October 
it received its new colonel, Emory Upton, who had 
been so commissioned by Governor Fenton on the 
9th of October. One of the first to congratulate the 
young colonel and to commend the regiment to his 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 67 

best devotion was its first commander, Colonel 
Franchot, who, having been elected to Congress, 
relinquished the command to take his seat as a Rep- 
resentative. Upton had, however, been ordered, 
August 14th, to duty at the Military Academy, 
which order was, to his great gratification, revoked 
to enable him to take command of his regiment. 
From this time, therefore, his connection with the 
regular army was merely that of his regimental 
rank as an artillery-officer, and his subsequent career 
was identified with the volunteers. 

The rank and file of his regiment were made 
up of the best men the country then produced — 
men of brawn and muscle, urged by the highest 
patriotism to enlist for a service that promised 
hard fighting and the severest trials. They de- 
serve the highest commendation, and they made 
for themselves a glorious record. Engaged in 
every battle fought by the Army of the Potomac 
from Antietam to the close of the war, their de- 
votion was attested by their constantly thinned 
ranks and the honorable scars of the survivors. 
They were readily amenable to the strict discipline 
needed for success, and heartily gave unques- 
tioned obedience to the gallant soldier who was 
their animating spirit and led their advance in the 
assault. 

On the occasion of the reunion of the survivors 
of the regiment in 1878, Major Douglas Campbell 
gave fitting testimony as to the causes which con- 
tributed to the gratifying record attained by the 
regiment while under the command of Colonel Up- 
ton. He says : 



68 Emory Upton. 

" This record was not the result of chance ; it 
was due mainly to two causes : The first was the 
material of which the regiment was composed ; men 
who went out to fight for principle must make good 
soldiers. The second was the influence of the man 
that we were fortunate enough to secure as our 
leader. Earnestness is the chief secret of success in 
life ; of all the men that I have ever met, no one was 
more thoroughly in earnest than Colonel Upton. 
Bred at West Point, he was but twenty-two years 
of age when he donned the eagles and the badge of 
the One Hundred and Twenty-first. The first day 
he made to the officers a little speech about what he 
expected of the regiment. I went away feeling that 
we had indeed found a man. How the regiment 
was affected is shown by its subsequent record. At 
first some of the boys thought he was severe in dis- 
cipline and drill ; but when people began flocking 
from distant encampments to witness our dress pa- 
rades, and when in battle they saw the regiment 
standing like a solid wall, these very men thanked 
the colonel. In discipline he was stern, but it was 
only the sternness of a soldier; below it was as 
warm a heart as ever beat. When we lay for that 
fearful night at Belle Plain Landing, without tents, 
fire, or food, in sleet and mud, which froze before 
morning to a solid mass, the field-officers alone had 
a tent. Upton gave up his couch to a sick lieuten- 
ant, and, rolled in a blanket, lay upon the ground. 
A day or so afterward I heard a conversation be- 
tween the officers who occupied the tent. The 
others, it seems, rested comfortably, but Upton 
said he could not sleep, thinking of the poor fellows 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 69 

outside who had no shelter. You remember that 
when he joined us we had a very large sick list. 
Upton came to us from a battery of regular artil- 
lery, and for some days was absent a large portion 
of the time. We supposed he was visiting his old 
associates. A few weeks afterward I met a friend 
who belonged to a regular regiment. He said to 
me : ' What is the colonel of your regiment doing ? Is 
he studying medicine?' I asked what he meant, 
and he replied, ' Why, for a long time he came over 
here almost every day, and passed his whole time in 
our hospitals, talking to our surgeons, and studying 
our medical system.' That explained why the 
health of the regiment improved so rapidly after 
he took command. In those earW da3's I remember 
seeing a sentinel, who for some fault had been sent 
for to his tent, coming out crying as if his heart 
would break. When he could speak, I asked him 
what was the matter, and through his tears he an- 
swered : ' The colonel has been talking to me about 
allowing my gun to be taken away on post. He 
spoke of the danger which might come to the army 
from neglect of duty like that, and spoke in such a 
way that I felt as if I were unworthy to be a soldier. 
He said he would not punish me, but I would rather 
spend a month in the guard-house than have him 
look and talk so.' That soldier never failed in his 
duty afterward. Such was our colonel in camp — 
watchful of his men, studious of their health and 
comfort, kind-hearted as a woman ; but in battle he 
was terrible. You all know that, however, as well 
as or better than I do. The regiment went every- 
where, but he was always in advance. Were he 



yo Emory Upton. 

here, I should have said nothing of all this, for he is 
as modest as he is brave ; but, as he is absent, I 
could not refrain from rendering to his services my 
little tribute of praise. Certainly in this, the first 
address at our reunion, it is not out of place to ex- 
press our gratitude to the man who helped so large- 
ly to make this regiment what it was." 

The testimony given by Major Campbell is in 
keeping with Upton's well-known traits of charac- 
ter. He was ever alive to the wants and necessities 
of his men. He jealously guarded their interests, 
and never for a moment lost sight of anything that 
would conduce to their health and comfort ; but he 
likewise exacted of them that prompt and unhesi- 
tating obedience without which proper discipline 
can not be maintained. The following letter shows 
how well Major Campbell had estimated the char- 
acter of his new colonel : 

Belle Plain, Va., December 7, 1862. 

My dear Sister: We marched from Stafford 
Court-House to White Oak Church three days ago. 
Day before yesterday our brigade marched to this 
point, the confluence of the Potomac River and Poto- 
mac Creek. When we arrived it was snowing and 
quite cold, and we had to encamp on the plain. 
There were no woods to break the wind, no wood to 
build fires, and the men were wet to the skin ; the 
ground was covered with snow and water, and with 
but a thin shelter-tent over their heads, and nothing 
but the cold ground to lie on and one blanket for a 
covering, you can imagine how the poor soldiers 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 7^ 

fared that night. Yesterday it was clear and cold, 
and last night colder than any night last winter 
The ice froze thick enough to bear a horse. To- 
day I took the regiment from the plain to the 
woods — dense cedar and a high ridge — to protect 
them from the wind, and to-night they are very 
comfortable, although it is still very cold. I like 
the regiment very much. The men know that they 
will be taken care of, and they are quite contented. 

His new regiment formed a part of the brigade 
in which he had won distinction, and this more 
prominent command called out all the energy of 
his mind and body. In the battle of Fredericksburg, 
December 13, 1862, he had an opportunity of test- 
ing the soldierly qualities of his men. Here his gal- 
lant bearing and coolness under fire were so strik- 
ing that he won the affection of his men, and they 
behaved so like veterans that mutual confidence 
was from that time well established. 

The first time that his regiment engaged the 
enemy seriously was in the battle of Salem Heights, 
May 3, 1863. His official report to the brigade 
commander says : 

" The regiment was deployed to the left of the 
plank road, about three miles from Fredericksburg, 
and had advanced in line of battle nearly a mile 
when it came upon our skirmishers in the edge of a 
belt of timber, about three hundred yards through, 
beyond which was Salem Chapel. The skirmish- 
ers reported the enemy in line of battle in the 
opposite edge of the woods. 



72 Emory Upton, 

"About 5.30 p. M. I received an order to push 
rapidly through the woods and engage the enemy, 
who were supposed to be hastily withdrawing. I 
sent the report of the enemy's position to the gen- 
eral commanding the brigade, and immediately ad- 
vanced the line. The regiment advanced steadily 
to within fifty yards of the opening, when it was 
assailed by a heavy fire of musketry from the en- 
emy concealed behind a ditch. The fire was re- 
ceived without creating the slightest confusion. 
The regiment moved forward with a cheer about 
twenty yards farther. The enemy opposite the 
center and left wing broke, but rallied again about 
twenty or thirty yards to his rear. The Ninety- 
sixth Pennsylvania now came up to our left and the 
Twenty-third New Jersey to our right, but opened 
fire before coming on our line. Lieutenant-Colonel 
Olcott endeavored to have the Twenty-third New 
Jersey charge, but without success. The firing 
became very heavy on both sides, and was main- 
tained about five minutes. It was impossible to 
remain longer. 

" Having lost nearly two hundred in killed and 
wounded, the regiment fell back to a crest four hun- 
dred and fifty yards this side of the woods, where 
the colors were planted. ... It was the first time 
the regiment had ever been in action. It went into 
the engagement with four hundred and fifty-three, 
and suffered a loss of forty-four killed, one hundred 
and fifteen wounded, and one hundred and ten miss- 
ing, making a total of two hundred and sixty-nine. 
Notwithstanding the severe loss inflicted, it came 
out of the action without any demoralization, and is 



Regimental and Brigade Commander, y^t 

again ready for any service that may be imposed 
upon it." 

General Bartlett says: 

" Colonel E. Upton, commanding the One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-first New York, in the battle of 
Salem Heights, led his regiment into action in a 
masterly and fearless manner, and maintained the 
unequal contest to the last with unflinching nerve 
and marked ability, and the men of his regiment, in 
this, their first battle, won for themselves the proud 
title of soldiers." 

Shortly after the battle of Chancellorsville, Lee 
undertook the second invasion of Maryland, and 
pushed forward into Pennsylvania. The command 
of the Army of the Potomac had fallen to General 
Meade, and the sequence of events brought the 
opposing forces into conflict in the decisive battle 
of Gettysburg. Colonel Upton's regiment, forming 
a part of the Sixth Corps, reached the battle-field 
on the afternoon of the 2d of July, after a forced 
march, but yet in time to render important service 
to the hard-pressed Union left flank. 

The following letter shows how fully he appre- 
ciated the importance of the events in which he 
participated : 

Gettysburg, Pa., July 4, 1863, 

My dear Sister : Yesterday was a glorious day 
for the country and the Army of the Potomac. Lee 
attacked our army in position about 2 P. M., and was 
completely repulsed, with a loss of three brigadier- 
generals, thirty stands of colors, three thousand 
4 



74 Emory Upto7t. 

prisoners, and a heavy loss in killed and wounded. 
The blow fell on the Second Corps, which has 
greatly distinguished itself. The battle began on 
the ist; Major-General Reynolds was killed that 
day, and his corps badly cut up. On the 2d, Lee 
attacked, and was repulsed all around. The Sixth 
Corps, on the night of the ist, lay at Manchester. 
It commenced its march for Gettysburg about 10 
p. M., and arrived here about 4 P. M. on the 2d, a 
distance of thirty-two miles. We arrived just in 
time to re-enforce our left, which was hard pressed 
by Longstreet, and slowly giving way. Ten min- 
utes later, and the battle had been lost. 

Lee's attack yesterday was imposing and sub- 
lime. For about ten minutes I watched the con- 
test, when it seemed that the weight of a hair would 
have turned the scales. Our men fought most gal- 
lantly. The rebels began to give way, and soon re- 
treated in utter confusion. Shortly after, the enemy 
on our left also retreated. I think Lee will evacu- 
ate Maryland and Pennsylvania at once. He sought 
this battle, and was badly whipped. If we are re- 
enforced, he will suffer terribly before recrossing 
the Potomac. Generals Hancock and Gibbon were 
wounded yesterday. Generals Paul* and Weed 
were killed on the 2d. Our entire loss is about 
twelve thousand killed and wounded ; the rebel loss 
in killed, wounded, and prisoners, will be between 
fifteen and twenty thousand. Kilpatrick lost some 
prisoners yesterday, but he won a splendid reputa- 
tion. General Bartlett has taken command of New- 

* A pardonable error ; General Paul being so severely wounded as 
to give at the time no hope of his recovery. 



Regimental and Brigade Commander, 75 

ton's old division, and to-day I was assigned to the 
command of his brigade by order of General Wright. 
The command of a brigade is a half-way step between 
colonel and brigadier-general, and I shall try to 
take the full step in the next battle. Our division 
has been considerably under fire during the battle, 
but was not actively engaged. Some were struck, 
but none killed. 

If possible, we ought to fight Lee not far from 
Hagerstown, and also immediately after he crosses 
the Potomac. By judicious management, he must 
go back to Virginia. Yesterday's contest seems the 
decisive battle of the war. Our men are in good 
spirits over the success. The Sixth Corps marched 
from Fairfax Court-House to this place in six days, 
a distance of one hundred and nine miles, eighteen 
miles per day. 

How is brother Henry's shoulder ? Have him 
keep perfectly quiet, and not think of returning un- 
til able to do duty. 

After the decisive struggle at Gettysburg, the 
enemy succeeded in recrossing the Potomac, and in 
taking up again a defensive position. They were 
closely pressed by the Union troops in their retreat, 
and, for a while, both armies waited each other's 
movements without showing any disposition to take 
the initiative. Upton's letters give clearly the 
sequence of events in which he was engaged, and 
the active thoughts which occupied his mind are 
happily expressed in terse and vigorous language. 
It is to be remembered that the criticisms in which 
he indulges in the private letters to his home are 



76 Emory Upton. 

not the results of subsequent digested study when 
the whole field was clearly presented to his view, 
but the rapid conclusions which his active and 
brilliant military mind abstracted from passing oc- 
currences based on the fragmentary knowledge he 
possessed of what was going on throughout the 

theatre of war. 

New Baltimore, Va., August 6, 1863. 

My dear Sister : I have seldom seen, even in 
Virginia, so hot a day as this. The heat penetrates 
everywhere, and in the shade one tosses about in 
vain to seek comfort. Once in a while a cool cur- 
rent of air passes over us, but very rarely. It was 
the same kind of weather we had at Harrison's 
Landing, only in a greater degree. Our locality is 
much healthier, on account of its elevation. We 
are about twenty miles from the Blue Ridge, and 
exactly at the southern terminus of Bull Run, or 
Pignut Mountains. The rest of the division is at 
Warrenton. My brigade and a battery of artillery 
hold this point, and you see, therefore, that it is 
quite a responsible command. Mosby, with his 
guerrillas, infests this locality, and if he becomes im- 
pertinent he may get chastised, but I do not think 
there will be much trouble. Both armies seem to 
have taken a defensive position, and are gathering 
themselves for the storm that will burst upon them 
probably in November. I think it decidedly good 
policy on our part to wait. Our armies at all points 
should be re-enforced so as to far outnumber the 
enemy. In the next struggle there ought not to be 
the possibility of defeat. We have got men enough, 
and we have only to bring them out. In future, the 



Regimental and Brigade Commander, "jy 

hardest fighting will be in the East. This is neces- 
sarily so, from the fact that in the West our lines of 
communication are so long that the various armies 
have to pay the utmost attention to guarding them. 
Grant can scarcely move from Vicksburg ; his first 
objective would be Meridian, one hundred and fifty 
miles. The enemy might not fight there, but fall 
back behind the Tombigbee, and dispute its passage. 
If Grant goes to Mobile, his operations would have 
to cease with its capture, for the next point to be 
taken would be Montgomery, as far distant as Me- 
ridian. This could be accomplished with adequate 
force, but can't we better employ what we have ? 
I'll answer that, after looking to Rosecrans. Rose- 
crans has from the first been paralyzed by his long 
line of communications. I do not see how he can 
advance, except by accumulating supplies sufficient 
to last six months, independent of communications. 
These would have to be collected at TuUahoma, 
which would have to be intrenched and guarded by 
a large and brave garrison. Nashville would be 
too far in his rear for this depot. These supplies 
accumulated at Tullahoma would form a new base 
of operations. His army could push on to Chatta- 
nooga, and, sooner or later, to Atlanta, surely as far 
as Dalton. I do not think it would pay to move 
even farther south than Dalton, Georgia. 

The Army of the Potomac is in Virginia. You 
now have the present position of affairs. Now 
where shall we strike ? Grant has about ninety 
thousand men, Banks say forty thousand. Detach 
twenty-five thousand from Grant to Banks. The 
latter, with the gunboats, should be able to keep the 



78 Emory Uptott. 

Mississippi River clear. Now assemble all the water 
transportation (impress it, of course) the Govern- 
ment can find at Vicksburg, sufficient for the re- 
maining sixty-five thousand of Grant's force. The 
enemy will expect, of course, that he will attack 
Mobile. Let him effect a landing thereabout ; let 
the gunboats attack the forts at the entrance of the 
harbor, but let his main fleet continue on its course 
to Port Royal, South Carolina, and then let him 
come down upon the rear of Charleston. His feint 
at Mobile, if well played, would deceive the enemy 
so long that he could not transfer his troops by rail 
in time to avert the disaster at Charleston. You 
may not see what is to be gained by possessing 
Charleston. In the first place, it is their principal 
harbor for blockade-runners. Secessionists admit 
that prices of all foreign articles would be doubled. 
The moral effect would be great on both sides, but 
all this would be insignificant compared with its 
strategical importance. Once ours, the army would 
move rapidly upon Augusta, which, if accomphshed, 
would, like Vicksburg, again divide the Confeder- 
acy. Lee's army would be completely isolated from 
Bragg and Johnston. The conclusion of the rebel- 
lion would speedily follow. The rebels are in a bad 
plight. In their place, I think I would now re-en- 
force Lee to such an extent from Bragg and John- 
ston that he could take the offensive against this 
army and drive it back to Washington. They could 
then be again returned south, and might arrive in 
time to save Charleston, should it be our plan to 
attack it. They can safely withdraw troops from 
the West, just on account of the difficulty we expe- 



Regimental and Brigade Commafider. 79 

rience in feeding our armies. That the rebellion 
will be crushed does not admit of a doubt. The 
action of the Government in reference to drafting 
is manly, and inspires us with confidence in its ulti- 
mate success. I have branched off a little in this 
letter because you have often requested it. I do 
not expect that the plan proposed will be adopted, 
but it will do no harm to speculate — perhaps I may 
be right ; if so, of course it would strengthen my 
confidence in my judgment. 

Warrenton, Va., November 6, 1863. 

Dear Brother: We are again around this "se- 
cesh " town, which we left about September 12th. 
We then marched to the Rapidan. The rebel forti- 
fications appearing too formidable, Meade did not 
attack. Lee then began a series of manoeuvres 
which (I can, but ought not to criticise) threw us 
back behind Bull Run. Lee fell back immediately 
without trying to force battle. We followed up 
leisurely to this point, where we arrived October 
20th. 

I sometimes get discouraged because of our not 
accomplishing decided results, but patience is a 
military as well as a social virtue, and therefore I 
continue to hope. I am reading " Plutarch's Lives," 
and I can not fail to see the charm success lends to 
military life. Victorious in every battle, courage 
rewarded in every struggle, who could not follow 
a CcEsar or a Napoleon ? Success begets confidence 
and resolution, which is a battle half won. No sol- 
dier in the world can equal the American, if prop- 
erly commanded. He possesses all the enthusiasm 



8o Emory Upton. 

of the French, and the bull-dog tenacity which has 
always characterized the English. He only wants 
a general who can call out his good qualities, or 
one who comprehends his nature. I think our 
generals betray in some instances total ignorance 
of human nature. They fail to appeal to the emo- 
tions or passions of their men. You know not 
the good a single word does a soldier when he 
is under fire. He feels that his commanding offi- 
cer is directing him and looking at his actions. I 
have never heard our generals utter a word of en- 
couragement, either before or after entering a bat- 
tle. I have never seen them ride along the lines 
and tell each regiment that it held an important 
position, and that it was expected to hold it to the 
last. I have never heard them appeal to the love 
every soldier has for his colors or to his patriot- 
ism. Neither have I ever seen a general thank his 
troops after the action for the gallantry they have 
displayed. 

My brief experience has taught me the value of 
a few words. At Blackburn's Ford, July i8, 1861, 
I appealed to the patriotism of the Twelfth New 
York. The way they fought after it assured me 
that they appreciated the remarks. But the most 
striking instance occurred at Gettysburg. We 
came on to the field about 4 P. M., and were held in 
reserve until about 6 P. m. We were then moved 
up to the left to support the Third and Fifth Corps, 
which had been repulsed. The men were tired, 
weary, and foot-sore. They had marched, since 10 
P. M. the preceding night, thirty-two miles. Stray 
bullets were passing over our heads when I turned 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 8i 

to address them. You know I am but poorly gifted 
with speech, but I felt the fate of the nation de- 
pended upon the issue of that battle. A feeling of 
enthusiasm possessed me so electrifying that, for 
the first time in my life, words and actions came to 
me spontaneously. In a few words, I told them 
how momentous was the issue, how much the coun- 
try expected of us. I appealed to their pride and 
patriotism ; I promised to lead, and asked them to 
follow. Their eyes kindled, order replaced de- 
spondency, and the noble fellows burst out into a 
cheer that would have raised the hair of a con- 
fronting rebel. From that instant I had as much 
confidence in them as in myself. How well they 
fought is attested by the battle of Salem Chapel. 
Of four hundred and fifty-three taken into action, 
two hundred and twenty-seven were killed and 
wounded, and this in their first fight. The killed 
amounted to eighty. Of these, sixty-two were left 
dead on the field ; seventeen were from one com- 
pany. How short the range, is shown by the ratio 
of killed to wounded (eighty to one hundred and 
forty-seven, or less than one to two), whereas the 
usual ratio is one to four or five. Nearly the whole 
loss was inflicted at a range varying between four 
and eight rods, and in the space of about five min- 
utes. The conduct of the regiment challenged the 
admiration of the enemy, but it was not mentioned 
by our commanders, where others with a loss little 
more than half as large were mentioned in the high- 
est terms. 

I had expected brother Henry to return to-day, 
but he has not yet arrived. He had a most severe 



82 Emory Upton. 

wound, and has borne it like a hero. His courage 
in battle is of the highest order. 

Upton, although now in command of a brigade, 
had not yet attained the actual rank of a brigadier- 
general. He could not be blind to his own fitness 
for the desired promotion, and, although he shows 
in his letters of this period a restiveness because of 
the delay in the only recognition which the Gov- 
ernment could bestow, he never failed to do his 
whole duty in whatever service he was called upon 
to perform. In the assault of the rebel intrench- 
ments, or tcte de pout, at Rappahannock Station, he 
led his Second Brigade of the First Division of the 
Sixth Corps again to victory. In this action, his 
clear perception, ready courage, the rare skill with 
which he led his brigade, gained for it a brilliant 
victory over a much superior enemy, both in num- 
bers and strength of position. His own story, told 
with the modesty of a hero, and with a due appre- 
ciation of the great soldierly qualities of his immedi- 
ate commander. General David A. Russell, is thus 
graphically related : 

Headquarters Second Brigade, November 15, 1863. 

My dear Sister: Doubtless you have seen 
through the papers that this brigade has been en- 
gaged with the enemy, and that it met with aston- 
ishing success. There are many accounts of the 
battle extant, but I will give you the true version, 
believing it will interest you all. Our division left 
Warrenton at daylight on the 7th. General Bart- 
lett being ordered to the Fifth Corps, I fell in com- 



Regimental and Brigade Co^nmander. 83 

mand of the brigade. We marched to the railroad 
near Rappahannock Station, halted there till dusk, 
when the fight began. From one o'clock till sun- 
set there was considerable artillery-firing and skir- 
mishing, but no serious loss was inflicted on either 
side. At dusk, General Russell, who commanded 
the division, conceived the idea of capturing the 
enemy's works by a coup-dc-main. To this end he 
brought forward one regiment apparently to relieve 
the skirmishers, who had been in the front all day, 
and another to act as a support. The enemy saw 
the whole operation, but supposing it simply a re- 
lief, paid but little attention to the matter. The 
first or old line of skirmishers were notified of the 
intention, the second line came up to where the first 
lay, when both rushed upon the enemy's redoubts, 
and were almost inside before the enemy recovered 
from his astonishment. This gallant attack was 
made by the Sixth Maine, which suffered very 
heavily, the Filth Wisconsin, and two companies of 
the One Hundred and Twenty-first New York. 
Four guns, one color, and two hundred prisoners 
were captured upon the spot. The bridge, by which 
the enemy maintained communication with the 
south bank of the river, was now commanded by 
our men, who held the redoubts. Seeing his re- 
treat thus intercepted, the enemy made desperate 
efforts to recapture the works, and had well-nigh 
succeeded, when General Russell sent me an order 
to bring forward two of my regiments to his assist- 
ance. The One Hundred and Twenty-first New 
York and Fifth Maine were in the first fine ; I im- 
mediately ordered them forward, and, to avoid any 



84 Emory Upton, 

delay, directed them to load while marching; this 
done, telling them we were wanted to help hold the 
works captured, they took the double-quick and 
soon arrived to the support of our hard-pressed 
comrades. Upon arriving, General Russell pointed 
out a rifle-pit from which the enemy maintained an 
enfilading fire, and he ordered me to charge the 
rifle-pit and hold it. The work was on the summit 
of a gently rising knoll. Their banners could be 
plainly seen outstanding against the sky, while their 
saucy heads appearing everywhere above the para- 
pets forewarned us how deadl}^ might be our task. 
My orders were distinct: it remained to execute 
them in the safest, surest, and most satisfactory 
manner. Under cover of darkness we formed within 
a hundred yards of their works. I told the Fifth 
Maine that the troops from Maine had won laurels 
on every field, and that the gallant Fifth must not 
be behind them. A few words to the One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-first New York sufficed to rouse 
their determination to the highest pitch. I directed 
them to unsling knapsacks and fix bayonets. Then 
giving the strictest orders not to fire, we advanced 
at quick time to within thirty yards of the rifle-pit, 
when the order to charge was given. The work 
was carried at the point of the bayonet. The 
enemy fought stubbornly over their colors, but 
were overpowered. To execute my orders we had 
only to remain where we were, but a more brilliant 
success was in store. The celebrated Louisiana 
brigade of Stonewall Jackson's old division lay be- 
hind the rifle-pits to our right. On their banners 
were inscribed " Cedar Run," " Manassas second," 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 85 

" Winchester," " Harper's Ferry," " Sharpsburg," 
" Fredericksburg," " Chancellorsville," and " Gettys- 
burg." Word was brought me that the enemy 
on our right was in confusion ; he could also be 
seen apparently moving to his rear. Without wait- 
ing for further orders, I sent Captain Hall of the 
staff to report to General Russell that we had per- 
formed the task assigned to us and made immedi- 
ate dispositions to attack. Major Mather, of the 
One Hundred and Twenty-first New York, with a 
portion of his regiment, was ordered to seize the 
bridge and to arrest those who might attempt to 
swim the river. Colonel Edwards, of the Fifth 
Maine, with a part of his own and the One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-first Regiments, was ordered to 
charge at double-quick and not to fire. The re- 
mainder of the two regiments was held in reserve, 
should the enemy offer resistance. I told our men 
not to fire, and stated in a loud tone that four lines 
of battle were supporting us. The enemy being 
deceived, supposed a vastly superior force was ad- 
vancing, and the entire brigade of the enemy laid 
down their arms. The colonel commanding sur- 
rendered personally to me. These movements re- 
sulted in capturing seven colors, one hundred and 
three commissioned officers, thirteen hundred and 
thirty-seven enlisted men, and twelve hundred and 
twenty-five stand of arms. It was all done after 
dark, when one could not distinguish friend from 
foe, and with a force numbering five hundred and 
sixty-eight, officers and men included. Our total 
loss in the two regiments amounted to sixty-three 
killed and wounded. I think the slight loss, in a 



86 Emory Upton. 

great degree, may be attributed to our not firing. 
The enemy hearing the orders given distinctly, con- 
cluded that it probably was not best to provoke 
us, and therefore quietly surrendered. To General 
Russell, who is one of the best and bravest officers in 
our service, belongs the credit of this brilliant suc- 
cess. He displayed one of the finest traits of gen- 
eralship in selecting the time and mode of attack. 
The position in the daytime could only have been 
carried at a loss of at least fifteen hundred men. As 
it was, our loss did not exceed three hundred, and 
with a total result of four cannon, eight colors, six- 
teen hundred prisoners, and sixteen hundred stand 
of arms. 

It is believed that a great battle is soon to be 
fought. Our army is in excellent condition, and will 
give a good account of itself. 

Headquarters Second Brigade, November 21, 1863. 

My dear Sister: We are now encamped on 
John Minor Botts's estate, not far from Brandy 
Station, where, perhaps, you will remember the 
severe cavalry-fight took place last spring, before 
the opening of the Pennsylvania campaign. Hazel 
River, a beautiful stream, runs close to our camp, 
and forms quite an obstacle should the enemy desire 
to turn our right. The troops have made them- 
selves comfortable, but not with the conviction that 
they were to remain here very long. It is now 
storming, so whatever move may have been deter- 
mined on will have to be delayed till the weather 
and the roads permit its execution. The general 
impression is, that a terrible battle is in store for us, 



Regimental and Brigade Commander, ^'j 

but, far from wishing it deferred, the troops are, on 
the contrary, anxious for it. The army is in splen- 
did spirits, well equipped, and confident. The suc- 
cess at the Rappahannock had a most electrifying 
effect throughout the army, and I am sure, should 
we be manoeuvred with skill, the enemy will meet 
with a crushing defeat. 

The gallant conduct displayed by Upton at 
Rappahannock Station could not well be passed by 
unrewarded, and he was therefore selected to de- 
liver to General Meade, commanding the Army of 
the Potomac, the battle-flags captured by the Second 
and Third Brigades. It is true that this appears but 
an empty honor compared with the gallant deeds 
which our hero had performed, but even such hon- 
ors as these had their great value in the increased 
respect and admiration that were engendered in the 
breasts of his comrades. It is, perhaps, well here 
to comment upon the influences which the lack of 
just and fitting rewards to successful soldiers have 
upon the esprit de corps of the army. 

Promotion on the field of battle is the only ex- 
ternal reward that properly goes hand-in-hand with 
distinguished valor; and when true merit is for the 
time being overlooked, and the rewards are given to 
political favorites, zeal in the service, exposure in 
battle, and active interest, so essential for success, 
are not unfrequently replaced by lukewarmness and 
indifference. It reflects the highest credit upon Up- 
ton's personal and soldierly character when we find, 
in his private and personal letters to his relatives, 
no other than a just shade of discontent, without the 



88 Emory Upton. 

slightest inclination to do other than his whole duty 
to the country, whether the reward to which he was 
clearly entitled came or not. To the true soldier 
higher position in rank brings higher responsibili- 
ties ; and it can not be doubted that in this gallant 
hero the animating spirit was far removed from self- 
ish ambition, but he felt, rather, the power within 
him to do greater deeds of valor, with less sacrifice 
to the men confided to his care, than many others 
. who were preferred before him on personal or politi- 
cal considerations. It is, therefore, eminently proper 
to insert these letters, written in confidence to his 
sister, and to substantiate their statements by the 
commendatory letters freely offered him by his com- 
manders, who were gallant soldiers themselves, and 
fully acquainted with his conspicuous services : 

Headquarters Second Brigade, April lo, 1864. 

My dear Sister : My long-expected promotion 
is not forthcoming. General Meade has informed 
me that without " political " influence I will never 
be promoted. This consolation, however, remains, 
if justice has not been done, I have ever performed 
my duty faithfully and without regard to personal 
safety. The recommendation of those officers whose 
lives have been periled in every battle of the war 
have been overweighted by the baneful influence of 
the paltry politicians. . . . General Sedgwick has 
urged my claims, and stated that they were supe- 
rior to those of any other in his corps, yet two colo- 
nels have been appointed over me. 

Although the rank of a general may never be 
conferred on me, yet I hope to leave my friends 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 89 

abundant proof that I earned the honor, but that it 
was unjustly withheld. The spring campaign will 
soon be inaugurated. I trust General Grant will 
sustain his former reputation, and administer to 
General Lee such heavy blows that he may never 
recover. I confess I am ready for action, and I 
trust, in the coming struggle, we shall bear ourselves 
like men. The Army of the Potomac deserves a 
better name than it has, as we will soon prove. 
May God bless our arms, and grant us victory and 
peace ! 

Headquarters Second Brigade, Apnl i8, 1864. 

My dear Sister : There are considerable activ- 
ity and preparation in the army for the coming 
campaign, and I think that officers and soldiers are 
anxious for marching orders. Camp-life has be- 
come very irksome, and we welcome any change 
that will break up its monotony. Excitement is 
the spice of a soldier's life, and all old troops hun- 
ger for it after having rested for a long time. I 
do not expect a battle before the first of May, 
perhaps the middle, but we all are convinced that 
either a most glorious or a most disastrous one 
awaits us. 

I trust Grant may prove himself the general 
his reputation proclaims him, and that the fall of 
Richmond may prove the fall of the Confederacy. 
I have not fully despaired of receiving promotion, 
but I have despaired of receiving it in the manner 
honorable to a soldier. It is now solely the re- 
ward of political influence, and not of merit, and 
this when a government is fighting for its own 
existence. 



9© Emory Uptofi. 

Headquarters Second Brigade, Ajiril 25, 1864. 

My dear Sister : . . . Your views as to my 
promotion reflect strongly your sisterly affection 
for me, and they in no little degree enable me to 
preserve my equanimity and peace of mind under 
the treatment I have received. 

You must remember that to expose one's self 
simply to get promotion would be an unworthy act, 
and therefore, in the future as in the past, I must do 
my full duty with equal fearlessness. I have re- 
ceived of late many gratifying proofs of the confi- 
dence and esteem of both officers and men under 
my command, and not only in my command, but 
outside of it. The officers of the First Brigade of 
this division were nearly unanimous in recommend- 
ing me for promotion, in the hope I might be as- 
signed to that command. Considering that their 
lives to a great degree would be in my hands, espe- 
cially in battle, and that no motive other than their 
safety and welfare could prompt such action, is it 
not the highest tribute men can pay me, that they 
should select me as their chosen leader in the hour 
of battle ? The compliment is the more gratifying 
as coming from the New Jersey brigade, preferring 
me over every colonel from their State. The rec- 
ommendation will not be forwarded, but it will 
serve to show the opinion of the officers of this 
division. Would the President consult the views 
of my superior officers, whose reputation depends 
upon my conduct to a certain degree, or those offi- 
cers whose lives are in my hands in action, my pro- 
motion would not be withheld. I ought to have 
had it a year ago. Should anything befall me in the 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 91 

struggle about to ensue, my friends will not be per- 
mitted the slight satisfaction that I had risen to the 
rank of a general officer. But you shall never blush 
at my conduct. I shall do my duty faithfully, and I 
shall leave behind a record to which you can always 
refer with pride and satisfaction. . . . We are expect- 
ing to move soon. Our army is in fine condition, 
and I have no doubt that the bloodiest battle of the 
war will be fought in a few days. General Grant is 
well liked, and, as he is taking time to prepare his 
campaign, there is strong probability of his success. 

General Upton remained in command of the 
Second Brigade in all the operations of the Army 
of the Potomac from Mine Run, November 26, 
1863, to December 3, 1863, and participated in all 
of the preliminary movements and skirmishes pre- 
vious to the inauguration of General Grant's over- 
land campaign from the Rapidan in May, 1864. 
This campaign, the bloodiest of the whole war, was 
prosecuted with the utmost vigor, and will be ever 
memorable for the many stubborn contests, the 
great losses, the fatiguing marches, and the perti- 
nacity with which Grant endeavored to outflank 
Lee, as well as the success of Lee in keeping his 
stubborn antagonist from accomplishing his pur- 
pose. Historic battles and heroic incidents crowd 
each other in a campaign during which the " troops 
literally fought all day and marched all night." 
Upton's brief and soldierly official report of the 
operations of his brigade may be taken as a typical 
account of this remarkable period, and for this rea- 
son it is inserted here without abridgment. 



92 Emory Upton. 

Headquarters Second Brigade, First Division, 
Sixth Corps, September i, 1864. 

Major Henry R. Dalton, Acting Assistant Adju- 
tant-General, First Division, Sixth Corps. 
Major : I have the honor to submit the follow- 
ing report of the operations of the Second Brigade, 
during the five epochs of the campaign of the Army 
of the Potomac, from the Rapidan to Petersburg : 

First Epoch. — The brigade broke camp near the 
Hazel River at 4 a.m.. May 4, 1864, crossing the 
Rapidan at Germanna Ford, and camped on the 
plank-road two miles beyond. 

May 5th, the march was resumed along the 
plank-road toward Wilderness Tavern. The bri- 
gade was thrown out on a dirt-road leading to Mine 
Run, to cover the right flank of the column while 
passing ; shortly after it moved by the left flank, 
and formed in line on the left of the corps. About 
II A. M. orders were received to advance to the 
support of the Fifth Corps, then engaged with the 
enemy on the Orange Court-House pike, two miles 
from Wilderness Tavern. 

The advance was made by the right of wings, it 
being impossible to march in line of battle on ac- 
count of the dense pine and nearly impenetrable 
thickets which met us on every hand. After over- 
coming great difficulties on the march, connection 
was made with the right of the Fifth Corps. Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Carroll, commanding Ninety-fifth 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, while riding a short dis- 
tance in front of his regiment, came suddenly upon 
a group of the enemy, who fired upon him, killing 
him instantly. Two or three companies of his regi- 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 93 

ment, under Captains Boyd, Burns, and Lieutenant 
Gordon, immediately charged, gallantly carrying 
the hill on which the enemy was posted and cap- 
turing about thirty prisoners. The position, al- 
though two hundred yards in advance of the Fifth 
Corps line, was important to hold, and the line was 
accordingly established there. Shortly after, the 
Third Brigade connected on our right. 

The woods in front and around our position had 
been set on fire by the enemy to prevent our ad- 
vance. The ground had previously been fought 
over and was strewed with wounded of both sides, 
many of whom must have perished in the flames, as 
corpses were found partly consumed. 

Colonel Penrose, commanding Fifteenth New 
Jersey Volunteers at that time, placed himself under 
my command, and remained with the brigade dur- 
ing the rest of the epoch. His regiment behaved 
under all circumstances with a steadiness indicative 
of the highest state of discipline. 

May 6th the brigade was ordered to attack at 
daylight, but the order was countermanded ; there 
was constant skirmishing during the day, but not 
serious. 

About 7 P. M. Lieutenant-Colonel Duffy, Assist- 
ant Inspector-General, brought the order to send 
two regiments to the extreme right — that flank of 
the corps having been turned. The One Hundred 
and Twenty-first New York and the Ninety-fifth 
Pennsylvania were designated, and were led on by 
Lieutenant-Colonel Duffy at double-quick. While 
marching, they encountered a fire from the left. 
The dense undergrowth necessarily lengthened out 



94 Emory Upton, 

the column, and at the same time large masses of 
men breaking through their ranks threw both regi- 
ments into unavoidable confusion. Portions of both 
regiments were promptly reformed at the rifle-pits 
near General Sedgwick's headquarters, then the 
extreme right, and held their position firmly. As 
soon as my horse could be brought after receiving 
the order, I started after the two regiments, leaving 
the remainder of the brigade under command of 
Colonel Penrose, but before I could reach them 
they had been broken. I succeeded in rallying 
about half of each and advanced at once. At every 
step, officers and men who were falling back stated 
that there were no troops in front or on the right, 
from which latter direction bullets were then com- 
ing. About three hundred yards to the rear was 
General Morris's brigade of the Third Division 
thrown back to meet the attack. I therefore moved 
the two regiments back and formed on his right. 
Fragments of other regiments were formed on my 
right, and two companies of the Ninety-fifth Penn- 
sylvania were deployed as skirmishers. Finding 
out, shortly after dark, the position of the remainder 
of the regiments, they were united at the rifle-pits 
and still continued to hold the right of the line. 
Lieutenant -Colonel Olcott, commanding the One 
Hundred and Twenty-first New York, while his regi- 
ment was reforming, rode to the front to ascertain 
the position of affairs. He was discovered by the 
enemy and wounded in the forehead by a musket- 
ball, from the effect of which he fell from his horse 
insensible and was made prisoner. An able and 
gallant officer, his absence was felt throughout the 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 95 

entire campaign. Lieutenant Patterson, aide-de- 
camp, was wounded. 

About 10 P. M., the brigade leading, the corps 
moved by the left flank to the pike, thence back to 
near Wilderness Tavern, where a position was taken 
between the pike and plank-road, and fortified on 
the morning of the 7th. The withdrawal from the 
front of the enemy, though but a few yards from 
his line, was accomplished successfully and without 
loss. 

Seco7id EpocJi. — The brigade leading, the corps 
moved from Wilderness Tavern at 9.30 P. M. on the 
7th, via Chancellorsville to Piney Branch Church, 
where half an hour was taken for breakfast. Re- 
suming the march on the Spottsylvania road, it 
came up early in the afternoon with the Fifth Corps, 
then engaging the enemy. About 6.30 P. M. it was 
formed in a fourth line on the right of the road to 
support an attack, but, threatening demonstrations 
being made on our right flank, a change of front to 
our right and rear was executed about dusk. The 
brigade remained in this position during the night, 
connecting on the right with Ayres's brigade of the 
First Division, Fifth Corps. On the morning of the 
9th it was relieved by Crawford's division of the 
Fifth Corps, moved to the left of the Spottsylvania 
road, took up position and fortified. During the 
day several casualties occurred from artillery-fire. 
On the afternoon of the loth an assault was deter- 
mined upon, and a column of twelve regiments was 
organized, the command of which was assigned to 
me. 

The point of attack, which was shown me by 



96 Emory Upton, 

Captain Mackenzie, of the United States Engineers, 
was at an angle of the enemy's works near the 
Scott House, about half a mile to the left of the 
Spottsylvania road. 

The intrenchments were of a formidable charac- 
ter, with abatis in front and surmounted by heavy 
logs, underneath which were loop-holes for mus- 
ketry. In the re-entrant to the right of the house 
was a battery with traverses between the guns; 
there were also traverses at intervals along the en- 
tire work. About a hundred )''ards to the rear was 
another line of works, partly completed, and occu- 
pied by a second line of battle. The position was 
in an open field, about two hundred yards from a 
pine-wood. A wood-road led from our position 
directly to the point of attack. The ground was 
looked over by General Russell and myself, and the 
regimental commanders were also required to see it, 
that they might understand the work before them. 

The column of attack was formed in four lines 
of battle, four regiments being on the right and 
eight on the left of the road. The regiments on the 
right moved up the road by the right flank, those 
on the left by the left flank, each regiment lying 
down as soon as in position. The lines were ar- 
ranged from right to left as follows : 

First line. One Hundred and Twenty-first New 
York, Ninety-sixth Pennsylvania, and Fifth Maine ; 
second line. Forty-ninth Pennsylvania, Sixth Maine, 
and Fifth Wisconsin ; third line. Forty-third and 
Seventy-seventh New York and One Hundred 
and Nineteenth Pennsylvania ; fourth hne, Second, 
Fifth, and Sixth Vermont. 



Regime7ttal and Brigade Commander. 97 

No commands were given in getting into posi- 
tion. The pieces of the first line were loaded and 
capped ; those of the others were loaded but not 
capped ; bayonets were fixed. The One Hundred 
and Twenty-first New York and Ninety-sixth Penn- 
sylvania were instructed, as soon as the works were 
carried, to turn to the right and charge the battery. 
The Fifth Maine was to change front to the left, 
and open an enfilading fire to the left upon the 
enemy. The second line was to halt at the works, 
and open fire to the front if necessary. The third 
line was to lie down behind the second and await 
orders. The fourth line was to advance to the edge 
of the woods, lie down, and await the issue of the 
charge. Colonel Seaver, commanding it, was in- 
structed that he might have to form line obliquely 
to the left, and open fire to cover the left flank of 
the column. All the officers were directed to repeat 
the command " Forward " constantly from the com- 
mencement of the charge till the works were car- 
ried. At ten minutes before 6 p. M. Captain Dalton 
brought me the order to attack as soon as the column 
was formed, and stated that the artillery would 
cease firing at 6 p. M. Twenty minutes elapsed be- 
fore all the preparations were completed, when, at 
the command, the lines rose, moved noiselessly to 
the edge of the wood, and, with a wild cheer and 
faces averted, rushed for the works. Through a 
terrible front and flank fire the column advanced, 
quickly gaining the parapet. Here occurred a 
deadly hand-to-hand conflict. The enemy, sitting 
in their pits, with pieces upright, loaded, and with 
bayonets fixed, ready to impale the first who should 
5 



9^ Emory Upton. 

leap over, absolutely refused to yield the ground. 
The first of our men who tried to surmount the 
works, fell, pierced through the head with musket- 
balls ; others, seeing the fate of their comrades, 
held their pieces at arm's-length and fired down- 
ward ; while others, poising their pieces vertically, 
hurled them down upon their enemies, pinning them 
to the ground. 

Lieutenant Johnson, of the One Hundred and 
Twenty-first New York, received a bayonet-wound 
through the thigh. Private O'Donnell, Ninety- 
sixth Pennsylvania, was pinned to the parapet, but 
was rescued by his comrades. A private of the 
Fifth Maine, having bayoneted a rebel, was fired at 
by a captain, who, missing his aim, in turn shared 
the same fate ; the brave man fell by a shot from a 
rebel lieutenant. 

The struggle lasted but a few seconds. Num. 
bers prevailed, and, like a resistless wave, the column 
poured over the works, quickly putting hors-de- 
combat those who resisted, and sending to the rear 
those who surrendered. Pressing forward, and ex- 
panding to the right and left, the second line of in- 
trenchments, its line of battle, and the battery, fell 
into our hands. The column of assault had accom- 
plished its task : the enemy's lines were completely 
broken, and an opening had been made for the di- 
vision which was to have supported on our left, but 
it did not arrive. Re-enforcements arriving to the 
enemy, our front and both flanks were assailed. 
The impulsion of the charge being lost, nothing re- 
mained but to hold the ground. I accordingly di- 
rected the officers to form their men outside the 



Regimental and Brigade Cotnmander. 99 

works and open fire, and then rode back over the 
field to bring forward the Vermonters in the fourth 
line, but they had already mingled in the contest, 
and were fighting with a heroism which has ever 
characterized that elite brigade. 

The Sixty-fifth New York had also marched gal- 
lantly to the support of its comrades, and was fight- 
ing stubbornly on the left. Night had arrived. 
Our position was three quarters of a mile in advance 
of the army, and, being without prospect of sup- 
port, was untenable. Meeting General Russell at 
the edge of the wood, he gave me the order to 
withdraw. I wrote the order and sent it alone: the 
line by Captain Gorton, of the One Hundred and 
Twenty-first New York, in accordance with which, 
under cover of darkness, the works were evacuated, 
the regiments returning to their former camps. 

Our loss in this assault was about one thousand 
in killed, wounded, and missing. The enemy lost 
at least one hundred in killed at the first intrench- 
ments, while a much heavier loss was sustained in 
his efforts to regain them. We captured between 
ten and twelve hundred prisoners and several stands 
of colors. Captain Burhaus, Forty-third New York, 
had two stands of colors in his hands, and is sup- 
posed to have been killed while coming back from 
the second line of intrenchments. Many rebel pris- 
oners were shot by their own men in passing to the 
rear over the open field. Our officers and men ac- 
comphshed all that could be expected of brave men ; 
they went forward with perfect confidence, fought 
with unflinching courage, and retired only upon the 
receipt of a written order after having expended 



lOO Emory Upton. 

the ammunition of their dead and wounded com- 
rades. 

May nth, the brigade made some unimportant 
changes of position. Early on the 12th it moved 
with the division toward the right flank of the army, 
but to the left again at 7 A. M., arriving in rear of the 
Second Corps at 9.30 a. m. The right flank of this 
corps being threatened, General Russell directed me 
to move to the right at double-quick to support it. 
Before we could arrive, it gave way. As the Ninety- 
fifth reached an elevated point of the enemy's works, 
about six hundred yards to the right of the Lendrum 
House, it received a heavy volley from the second 
line of works. Seeing that the position was of vital 
importance to hold, and that all the troops had given 
way up to this point, 1 halted the Ninety-fifth Penn- 
sylvania, faced it to the front, and caused it to lie 
down. Its left rested near the works connectinof 
with the Second Corps, while its right refused lay 
behind a crest, oblique to the works. Had it given 
way, the whole line of intrenchments would have 
been recaptured, and the fruit of the morning's -vic- 
tory lost, but it held the ground till the Fifth Maine 
and the One Hundred and Twenty-first New York 
came to its support, while the Ninety-sixth Pennsyl- 
vania passed on its right. Shortly after the Third 
and Vermont brigades arrived, a section of Gillis's 
battery, Fifth United States Artillery, under Lieu- 
tenant Metcalf, came up and opened fire, but was 
immediately charged, and lost nearly every horse, 
driver, and cannonier. 

The enemy charged up to his works within a 
hundred feet of the guns, but a well-directed fire 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. loi 

from the infantry behind the crest prevented his 
further advance. At the point where our line di- 
verged from the works the opposing lines came in 
contact ; but neither would give ground, and for 
eighteen hours raged the most sanguinary conflict 
of the war. The point remained in our possession 
at the close of the struggle, and is known as the 
" Angle." 

The brigade was relieved at 5.30 P. M. by Colo- 
nel McLaughlin, of the Second Corps. Captain 
Fish, Assistant-Adjutant-General of the brigade, was 
killed while gallantly performing his duty early in 
the action. He was a brave, zealous, patriotic offi- 
cer, and had distinguished himself in every battle 
in which he had been engaged. Captain Lamont, 
of the Fifth Maine, the only one of seven captains 
who escaped in the assault of the loth, was among 
the killed. I desire also to mention, though not in 
my brigade, Major Ellis, of the Forty-ninth New 
York, and Major Truefitt, of the One Hundred and 
Nineteenth Pennsylvania, who, by their gallant con- 
duct, excited the admiration of all. The former 
received a wound from which he has since died ; 
the latter was killed. The country can ill afford to 
lose two such officers. 

After being relieved the brigade was held in re- 
serve, and, after dark, was marched to the right of 
General Ricketts's line, near the position occupied 
on the 9th. At 12 p.m., on the 13th, the brigade 
leading, the division moved to the left, in rear of 
Burnside's corps, to near the Anderson House. 
On the morning of the 14th it was ordered to cross 
the Ny River, and seize Myer's Hill, to the left and 



I02 Emory Upton. 

front of the Fifth Corps. Before reaching the posi- 
tion it had been carried by the regulars, whom we 
relieved. 

The brigade was reduced to less than eight hun- 
dred, and of these, three regiments, the Fifth Maine, 
One Hundred and Twenty-first New York, and 
Ninety-sixth Pennsylvania, were required to con- 
tinue the picket-line from the Fifth Corps to the 
river, leaving the Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania in re- 
serve. I sent a dispatch to General Wright, through 
Captain Paine, signal-officer, that, if the position was 
to be held, another brigade was necessary ; but it 
could not be spared, and two small regiments — the 
Second and Tenth New Jersey — were sent instead. 
A lookout was posted on top of the house with a 
field-glass to observe the enemy's movements. At 
the same time a breastwork of rails was thrown up 
in front of the house and out-buildings, there being 
no other means of fortifying at hand. 

About two hundred and fifty yards to the front 
of the house was a wood, to the right of which, 
eight hundred yards distant, was a high hill. To 
the left of the house was a broad, open field, on the 
far edge of which could be seen squads of cavalry. 
About 4 P. M. the lookout discovered infantry skir- 
mishers on the hill described. 

Apprehensive that the enemy's sharp-shooters 
might occupy the point of woods nearest the house. 
Colonel Lessig was directed to move forward the 
Nmety-sixth and take possession. Two companies 
of the Second New Jersey were sent in support, 
and the remainder of the regiment sent forward to 
the works. Colonel Lessig had scarcely entered the 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 103 

wood before he encountered two brigades of infant- 
ry forming to charge our position. He immedi- 
ately fell back, while at the same time the Ninety- 
fifth Pennsylvania and Tenth New Jersey were or- 
dered forward. They were barely in position when 
the enemy's column emerged from the woods. 
Simultaneously cavalry, with a battery of horse-ar- 
tillery, galloped on to the field to the left of the 
house, which opened fire, nearly enfilading our line. 
The enemy was received with a well-directed fire, 
which checked his advance, but, coming on in supe- 
rior numbers, we were compelled to abandon the 
position. 

Our loss in killed, wounded, and missing, was 
about one hundred. The enemy admitted a loss 
of one hundred and sixty-one killed and wounded. 
Lieutenant-Colonel Weibeck, of the Second New 
Jersey, a brave officer and thorough soldier, was 
killed. After dark, the position was reoccupied by 
our troops. 

May 15th and i6th, the brigade remained at 
Myer's Hill. May 17th, at 8 P. M., it marched back 
to the Angle, arriving at 5 A. M. on the i8th, and 
returned to Myer's Hill the same evening. May 
19th, it moved forward on Warren's left and forti- 
fied. At 10 P. M., the brigade leading, we marched 
across the Ny River, to meet Ewell's attack. On 
the morning of the 20th we relieved part of Bir- 
ney's division, our right resting on the Fredericks- 
burg road. On the 21st, at 4 P. M., we returned 
to Myer's Hill, and on the same day the Second 
Connecticut Heavy Artillery was assigned to the 
brigade. 



I04 Emory Upton. 

Third Epoch. — Marched from Myer's Hill at 
10.30 P. M., May 2ist, reached Guinea Station at 1.30 
p. M., May 22d, and rested four hours. Crossed the 
Mattapony at 6.30 P. M., and camped at Lebanon 
Church. On the 23d, resumed the march, and 
camped near Jericho bridge, on the North Anna, at 
12 P. M. The troops were much exhausted. On the 
24th, crossed the North Anna at 6 A. M., and went 
into position on the left of Griffin's division. On 
the 25th, moved to the right, crossed the Virginia 
Central Railroad at Noel's Station, and destroyed 
half a mile of the track. 

Fourth Epoch. — At 8 A. M., May 26th, recrossed 
the North Anna, and accompanied trains to Chester- 
field Station, arriving at 2 P. M. Resumed the march 
at 8 P. M. toward Hanovertown, crossed the Pa- 
munkey at 1 1 A. M., May 27th, having made twenty- 
seven miles since the previous evening. May 28th, 
moved up the river two miles to rejoin the Second 
and Third Divisions. May 29th, made reconnais- 
sance to Hanover Court-House. May 30th, moved 
at daylight toward Richmond, and bivouacked 
near Atlee Station, seven miles from Mechanicsville. 
Marched at i a. m., June ist, for Cold Harbor, ar- 
riving at 1 1 A. M. 

At 5 P. M., the brigade connecting with Ricketts's 
division on the right and the Third Brigade on the 
left was formed in four lines, preparatory to an as- 
sault upon the enemy's intrenchments on the Rich- 
mond road. The guide was to be left. The Second 
Connecticut, under Colonel Kellogg, was drawn up 
in column by battalion, forming the front three 
lines. The Fifth Maine, Ninety-fifth and Ninety- 



Regimental a7td B^Hgade Commander. 105 

sixth Pennsylvania, and One Hundred and Twenty- 
first New York, formed the fourth Hne. 

At 6 P. M., General Ricketts advanced, and, no 
movement taking place on my left, I directed Colo- 
nel Kellogg to move forward ; shortly after which 
Lieutenant-Colonel McMahon, assistant-adjutant- 
general of the corps, brought me the order to ad- 
vance, without regard to the guide. The Second 
Connecticut, anxious to prove its courage, moved 
to the assault in beautiful order. Crossing an open 
field, it entered a pine-wood, passed down a gentle 
declivity, and up a slight ascent. Here the charge 
was checked. For seventy feet in front of the 
works the trees had been felled, interlocking with 
each other, and barring all further advance. Two 
paths, several yards apart, and wide enough for four 
men to march abreast, led through the obstructions. 
Up these, to the foot of the works, the brave men 
rushed, but were swept away by a converging fire, 
unable to carry the intrenchments. I directed the 
men to lie down, and not to return the fire. Opposite 
the right of the regiment the works were carried, 
and several prisoners captured, among whom was 
Major McDonald, of a North Carolina regiment, 
who informed me that their flank had been turned. 
The regiment was then marched to the point gained, 
and, moving to the left, captured the point first at- 
tacked. In this position, without support on either 
flank, the Second Connecticut fought till 3 a. m., 
when the enemy fell back to a second line of works. 

Colonel Kellogg, its brave and able commander, 
fell in the assault at the head of his command. The 
loss of the Second Connecticut was fifty-three killed, 



io6 Emory Upton. 

one hundred and eighty-seven wounded, and one 
hundred and forty-six missing- ; total, three hundred 
and eighty-six. June 3d, another assault was or- 
dered, but, being deemed impracticable along our 
front, was not made. From the 3d to the 12th of 
June the brigade lay behind intrenchments. Nearly 
a constant fire was kept up by sharp-shooters, and 
but few casualties occurred. Lieutenant Gordon, 
of the Ninety-fifth Pennsylvania, aide-de-camp, was 
dangerously wounded in the head. 

Fifth Epoch. — The brigade marched at 1 1 p. m., 
June 1 2th, toward the Chickahominy. June 13th, 
was detached to guard the artillery and trains ; and 
then crossed the Chickahominy, at Jones's Bridge, 
and encamped. Resumed the march at 6 a. m., June 
14th, and encamped near the James River at 11 a. M. 
June 17th, at i a. m., took transports at Wilson's 
Wharf; disembarked at Bermuda Hundred at 6 
A. M. ; and rejoined the corps near Point of Rocks. 

June 1 8th, moved in front of the works at i a. m. 
to support the attack of two brigades upon Long- 
street's corps. The order of attack was counter- 
manded, and the brigade returned to its former 
position. June 19th, marched at 5 A. M. for Peters- 
burg ; reheved Stannard's brigade, on the right, at 
10 P. M. ; and intrenched during the night. 

June 2ist, at 9 P. M., was relieved by Stannard's 
brigade, and marched across the Jerusalem plank- 
road to the left of the Second Corps. 

June 22d, advanced with the Second Corps ; met 
the enemy, but was not engaged. Captain R. S. 
Mackenzie, United States Engineers, commanding 
the Second Connecticut, was wounded. An attack 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 107 

was ordered at 7 p. m. ; the line advanced, but the 
enemy had retired. 

June 23d, several changes of position were made, 
and works were constructed near Williams's House. 
June 29th, at 3 P. M., marched to Reams's Station. 
June 30th, destroyed track, and returned to the 
Jerusalem plank-road. July 2d, returned to Will- 
iams's House. July loth, marched to City Point, 
and took transports for Washington. The loss of 
the brigade during the campaign was three hun- 
dred and twenty -nine killed, seven hundred and 
thirteen wounded, and two hundred and sixty-three 
missing ; total, fourteen hundred and five. 

The officers and men endured the hardships of 
the campaign with remarkable patience, while the 
loss sustained sufficiently attests their gallantry. 
From the members of my staff — Captains J. D. Fish 
and F. G. Sanborn, and Lieutenants F. Morse, D. 
Gordon, and F. G. Patterson — I received, in every 
instance, prompt and gallant assistance. 

Upton's report of the operations of his brigade 
may be taken as a typical one. Grant's overland 
campaign was really a continuous battle, from the 
passage of the Rapidan, May 4th, till the Army of 
the Potomac found itself intrenched in front of Pe- 
tersburg. The terrible strain to which this gallant 
army had been subjected had almost reached the 
limit of human endurance. 

General Humphreys well says : " The inces- 
sant movements, day and night, for so long a pe- 
riod ; the constant, close contact with the enemy 
during all that time ; the almost daily assaults upon 



io8 Emory Upton. 

intrenchments having entanglements in front, and 
defended by artillery and musketry in front and 
flank — exhausted officers and men. The larger part 
of the officers, who literally led their commands, 
were killed or wounded ; and a large number of 
those that filled the ranks at the beginning of the 
campaign were absent. It is unreasonable to sup- 
pose that the troops were not, for a time, so ex- 
hausted as to need rest ; and equally unreasonable 
to suppose that their opponents were not in a simi- 
lar condition, though to a less degree, since they 
had not marched so much at night, nor attacked in- 
trenchments." * 

To this exhaustion we must, in a large measure, 
attribute the following criticism of General Upton 
upon the frequent assaults to which his troops had 
been ordered, found in a letter describing briefly 
the sequence of events, which are given in fuller 
detail in his report : 

Ju7ie 4, 1864. 

My dear Sister : ... I am disgusted with the 
generalship displayed. Our men have, in many 
instances, been foolishly and wantonly sacrificed. 
Assault after assault has been ordered upon the 
enemy's intrenchments, when they knew nothing 
about the strength or position of the enemy. Thou- 
sands of lives might have been spared by the exer- 
cise of a little skill ; but, as it is, the courage of the 
poor men is expected to obviate all difficulties. I 
must confess that, so long as I see such incompe- 
tency, there is no grade in the army to which I do 
not aspire. 

* " The Virginia Campaign, 1864 and 1865," p. 225. 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 109 
And again he writes : 

Headquarters Second Brigade, Jmte 5, 1864. 

My dear Sister : We are now at Cold Harbor, 
where we have been since June ist. On that day we 
had a murderous engagement. I say murderous^ be- 
cause we were recklessly ordered to assault the ene- 
my's intrenchments, knowing neither their strength 
nor position. Our loss was very heavy, and to no 
purpose. Our men are brave, but can not accom- 
plish impossibilities. My brigade lost about three 
hundred men. My horse was killed, but I escaped 
unharmed. Since June ist we have been behind 
rifle-pits, about three hundred yards from the ene- 
my. A constant fusillade from both sides has been 
kept up, and, though but little damage has been 
done, it is, nevertheless, very annoying. 

I am very sorry to say I have seen but little 
generalship during the campaign. Some of our 
corps commanders are not fit to be corporals. Lazy 
and indolent, they will not even ride along their 
lines ; yet, without hesitancy, they will order us to 
attack the enemy, no matter what their position 
or numbers. Twenty thousand of our killed and 
wounded should to-day be in our ranks. But I will 
cease fault-finding, and express the hope that mere 
numbers will yet enable us to enter Richmond. 
Please give my love to all. I am as anxious to 
hear from home as you are to hear from me. The 
fatigue of the campaign hardly disposes one for 
letter-writing. 

The severe character of these bloody contests 



no Emory Upton. 

can hardly be appreciated by those who were not 
themselves actors in the events described. 

At the battle of the " Angle," so continuous was 
the firing, that an oak-tree, over eighteen inches in 
diameter, was entirely cut in two by the bullets 
fired from the Union lines. A section of the re- 
maining stump was afterward obtained and sent to 
Washington, which exhibits in a striking way the 
persistent struggle in which both the enemy and 
our own men engaged at this point. 

The following letter gives a fuller account of 
this action, and is, therefore, inserted : 

Fort Monroe, August 31, 1878. 
Dear Sir : On the morning of that day, the 
Sixth Corps was in rear of the right of the army, 
but, on receipt of the news that Hancock's corps 
had captured several thousand prisoners, and a 
large portion of the works in the vicinity of the 
Lendrum House, it was ordered to that point as a 
support. Our brigade was at the rear of the corps, 
and, when the corps got into position, occupied the 
right of the line. The brigade had scarcely halted 
when I received orders to move, in double time, 
to the support of the right of the Second Corps. 
Starting the brigade in double time, the Ninety- 
fifth Pennsylvania leading, I galloped to the crest 
at the " Angle," and from thence could see the 
right of our troops extending along the works, to 
the point where the twelve regiments of our corps 
made the assault on the loth. I could also see a 
second line of works, the same we encountered and 
captured on the loth, about one hundred or one 



Regi7nental and Brigade Coimnander. 1 1 1 

hundred and fifty yards in front of the Hne then in 
our possession. This second hne appeared to be 
unoccupied. After reconnoitring the position, I 
rode back to the head of the Ninety-fifth, ordered 
it to take a steady step, and then conducted it to 
the crest, intending to pass over it, and move on to 
the right of the line. But, on arriving at the crest, 
I saw that the flank of the troops had been turned, 
and that they had been compelled to abandon the 
intrenchments to the point where I then stood. A 
moment after, as the head of the Ninety-fifth, still 
marching in double time, crowned the crest, it re- 
ceived the full fire of a line of battle, occupying 
the second line of works already referred to. In- 
stead of attempting to go over the crest, the head 
of the regiment inclined to the right, then followed 
the crest until the left, or rear, rested on the works, 
when I caused the men to lie down and open fire. 
Had the regiment given way, there can be little 
doubt that the fruits of the gallant charge of the 
Second Corps in the morning would have been 
lost. But, in a few moments, the One Hundred 
and Twenty-first New York, the Ninety-sixth Penn- 
sylvania, and the Fifth Maine came to its support, 
while the Jersey Brigade passed into the works on 
its right. Shortly after, the whole of the First Di- 
vision, Sixth Corps, was engaged at the " Angle," 
and, immediately to its left, our right. 

KX. the point where our line diverged from the 
works, the Union and Confederate soldiers were 
face to face. A few yards to the enemy's left (our 
right) of this point were the traverses of a four-gun 
battery, which had been captured in the morning. 



112 Emory Upton. 

It was from between those traverses, which proved 
a charnel-house to the Confederates, that they kept 
up a more or less continuous fire during the day, 
and, as I was informed, till nearly three o'clock 
next morning, when they abandoned the position. 
The tree was not the only evidence of the amount 
and accuracy of our fire. The top logs of the works 
and the traverses were splintered like brush-brooms, 
while the oak abatis in front was completely shot 
away. From 9.30 A. M. till about 5.30 P. M., when 
our brigade was reheved, these traverses were im- 
mediately in our front, and in front of the other 
brigades of the Sixth Corps, which came to our 
support. To our left, the troops of the Second 
Corps poured in an oblique fire toward the trav- 
erses. It was thus from the front fire of the Sixth 
Corps, aided by an oblique fire of the Second Corps, 
that the tree was undoubtedly shot down. 

The " Angle " was first captured by the Second 
Corps, and, during the prolonged conflict of nearly 
eighteen hours, was held chiefly by the Sixth Corps. 
A few days after the battle, Major-General Birney, 
of the Second Corps, volunteered the information 
to me that, in his official report, he would give our 
brigade the credit of saving the day. 

To G. Norton Galloway, Esq., 
Philadelphia, 

Such conspicuous gallantry could not be passed 
without official notice. Upton's commanding offi- 
cers, unsolicited, gave the strongest indorsements of 
his fitness for a higher command, and his promotion 
to the grade of brigadier-general was not long de- 



Regimental and Brigade Commande7\ 113 

layed. These recommendations are worthy of pres- 
ervation in this record, not only on account of the 
merit they extol, but because of the soldierly gen- 
erosity of his immediate superiors. 

General Joseph J. Bartlett, commanding the 
Second Brigade of the First Division, Sixth Corps, 
says: 

" Colonel Upton's services in the field date from 
the first battles before Manassas, as aide-de-camp to 
Brigadier-General Tyler. Subsequently he was as- 
signed to Battery D, Second United States Artil- 
lery, which he commanded at West Point, Virginia, 
May 7, 1862. At the battles at Gaines's Mills and 
Charles City Cross-roads he commanded his bat- 
tery with great skill and gallantry. At the battles 
of Crampton's Gap and Antietam he commanded 
an artillery brigade of twenty-six guns. 

"October 25, 1862, he was promoted colonel of 
the One Hundred and Twenty-first New York Vol- 
unteers. In the subsequent battles of the Army of 
the Potomac he commanded his regiment with dis- 
tinguished ability, and has received honorable men- 
tion in all of my reports, and in the reports of the 
division commanders. 

" Colonel Upton's conduct in the field has been 
marked by a prompt and cheerful obedience to or- 
ders, and an untiring endeavor to elevate his com- 
mand to its greatest efificiency. His unswerving 
integrity, his skill in the management of his regi- 
ment in action, his coolness and bravery under fire, 
have won for him the respect of his comrades and 
superior officers. 



114 Emory Upton. 

"The promotion of Colonel Upton would be but 
an act of justice, in consideration of his services, 
and would at the same time secure in the position 
of brigadier-general a faithful, conscientious, and 
reliable commander." 

The foregoing letter was indorsed as follows : 

" Colonel Upton, who is an officer of the regular 
army, has served either as commander of his regi- 
ment or of the Second Brigade of this division, 
since my connection with the Army of the Poto- 
mac ; and, by the zeal, intelligence, energy, and 
gallantry he has uniformly exhibited, has shown 
himself fully competent for the position for which 
he has been recommended. I not only take pleas- 
ure in presenting his claims for promotion on the 
record within, but would urge his appointment on 
the higher ground of the interest of the service. 

''H. G. Wright, 
'■'■Brigadier-General commanding First Division, Sixth 
Corps y 

"■ Colonel Upton has taken part, either as bat- 
tery, regimental, or brigade commander, in all the 
battles in which this corps has been engaged, and 
has rendered gallant and important service. At 
Crampton's Pass and Antietam he was chief of artil- 
lery of the corps. In the battles at and near Fred- 
ericksburg, in December and May last, he com- 
manded his regiment ; and at Gettysburg, and for 
some time subsequent, he was in command of a 
brigade. On all these occurrences his conduct was 
admirable. His regiment is in a highly efficient 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 115 

state of discipline. Colonel Upton would make an 
excellent brigade commander, and I earnestly hope 
he may be appointed. 

" John Sedgwick, 
^^ Major-Goicral commanding Sixth Corps.'' 

" I fully concur in the foregoing recommenda- 
tions, and trust that, in consideration of the high 
qualifications Colonel Upton possesses for the posi- 
tion, as well as on account of the distinguished 
and gallant services he has rendered during the 
war, he will receive the appointment of brigadier- 
general. 

" George G. Meade, 
" Major-General commanding!' 

Numerous other attestations of his eminent serv- 
ices are at hand, and could be printed were they 
necessary, to exhibit the strong impression that he 
made upon those with whom he served. 

The care which he bestowed upon his men, the 
high state of discipline to which he brought his 
command, the deliberate study which he made of 
the positions he was directed to assault, the ample 
provision he made for every contingency, the cool 
daring, gallant bearing, and remarkable success 
which always attended his going into action, all 
combined to make him a hero to his soldiers, and 
an illustrious example to his brother officers. There 
was no jealousy excited when his promotion fol- 
lowed, for it was given for " gallant and distin- 
guished services," well earned, as his comrades 
knew. 



1 1 6 Emory Upton. 

Headquarters Second Brigade, June 7, 1864. 

My dear Sister: ... I first saw my promotion 
in the papers on June ist. I was very glad ; for, 
two hours after, as I wrote you, we went into ac- 
tion. I am disposed to think that it will be better 
in the end for me to have received my promotion at 
this late date. The reasons for my promotion are 
gratifying to any soldier. It will be entered upon 
the records of the War Department that I was pro- 
moted for "gallant and distinguished services " — a 
record that will help me through life, and one of 
which you will be far more proud than had it been 
conferred simply for political reasons. It is con- 
trary to the instincts of all regular officers to seek 
promotion through the latter influence. Everybody 
congratulates me, and all concede that I have fairly 
earned it ; even those who have opposed me acknowl- 
edge this. I feel quite happy, and have not yet 
ceased to aspire. I shall not be content until I get 
a division, and time will bring that about. My 
health has been remarkably good throughout the 
campaign. I have slept in my clothes, with the ex- 
ception of two or three nights, since May 4th, and 
the same has been done by nearly all the officers 
and men. 

Headquarters Second Brigade, June 18, 1864. 
To-night I am quietly writing in my tent, which 
was last pitched on the north bank of the James. 
We took transports yesterday morning at i A. M., 
and steamed up to Bermuda Hundreds, arriving 
there at 6 a. m. Thence we marched to Point of 
Rocks, on the Appomattox. This morning we were 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 1 1 7 

marched outside of the works to support and par- 
ticipate in an assault upon the enemy's works. The 
order was countermanded in time to prevent a de- 
liberate murder of our troops. The line we were 
to assault was evacuated by the enemy on the i6th, 
and was occupied by our troops, who fell back from 
them without firing a shot. It was not till the 
enemy had reoccupied them in stronger force than 
before that it was discovered that their possession 
was of great importance to us. Brilliant general- 
ship that, which would abandon voluntarily a line 
of works, allow the enemy to take possession, and 
then drive them from it by a glorious charge / This 
kind of stupidity has cost us already twenty thou- 
sand men. It is time that it should be stopped. I 
think, however, with all our stupid blunders in bat- 
tle, we shall yet succeed. To all intents and pur- 
poses, we hold Petersburg. Our cavalry should cut 
the Lynchburg Canal and the Danville Railroad, 
which will certainly necessitate the evacuation of 
Richmond. There has been, I judge, terrible fight- 
ing to-day at Petersburg, but I do not know the re- 
sult. It must have been in our favor, I think, other- 
wise we would have been ordered to re-enforce the 
corps engaged. Our corps is at present under the 
orders of General Butler, but we hope soon to join 
the Army of the Potomac. 

The arduous struggle for the possession of Rich- 
mond, which commenced with the movement of the 
Army of the Potomac across the Rapidan on the 
4th of May, 1864, had for the time being ceased. 
The theatre of operations was peculiarly well fitted 



Ii8 Emory Upton. 

for the defensive measures which General Lee so 
ably conducted, and was correspondingly difficult 
for the offensive operations undertaken by General 
Grant. The task of the former was to prevent the 
penetration of the Union forces between his army 
and Richmond, and to secure always the shortest 
line of retreat to Richmond, and the safety of his 
line of supplies. That of the latter was to bring the 
enemy to battle in the open field, or, by rapid flank 
movements or overwhelming assaults, to dislodge 
him from his defensive positions, keeping Washing- 
ton always well covered in his rear. 

The southeasterly trend of the various streams 
having their sources in the Blue Ridge offered a 
succession of strong positions to the enemy, and 
which, by Lee's able generalship, proved insur- 
mountable barriers to a direct overland march of 
Grant's forces. 

During the progress of the campaign secondary 
expeditions were devised, having for their purpose 
the detaching of sufficiently strong portions of the 
enemy's troops, so as to weaken him, and enable the 
Army of the Potomac to accomplish more readily 
its purpose. 

General Hunter's command in the Shenandoah 
Valley had gained such success in his Lynchburg 
campaign while the two main opposing forces were 
struggling at the North Anna, that Lee was con- 
strained to send back to the Valley two brigades 
commanded by Breckenridge. This force was fur- 
ther increased by the addition of Early's corps, 
withdrawn from Lee's forces June 13th, after the 
issue at Cold Harbor had been decided in favor of 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 119 

Lee. The result of these movements was to drive 
Hunter out of the Shenandoah toward the Kanawha 
Valley. He reached Charleston, West Virginia, 
June 30th, with his troops foot-sore and exhausted, 
and was thus eliminated as a factor of offense or de- 
fense in the Shenandoah until near the middle of 
July. The situation was now something like this : 
Grant was moving his forces south to invest Peters- 
burg, and, crossing his army over the James River 
at and near Fort Powhatan, but covering his real 
movement by a portion of his cavalry near Malvern 
Hill and White-Oak Swamp. Lee, watchful, was 
waiting for information as to Grant's movements, 
but ready to interpose in his front, either south of 
Richmond or Petersburg. Early, in the Valley, with 
nothing of any moment to oppose him, had an in- 
viting pathway into Maryland. His force, of about 
seventeen thousand men, mostly veteran troops, 
was strong enough not only to penetrate into 
Maryland, but to seriously threaten and endanger 
Washington. Lee hoped by this diversion to cause 
Grant to loosen the powerful grasp by which he held 
the bulk of his forces in the intrenchments around 
Petersburg. 

Briefly, it may be stated that Early, in the prose- 
cution of this design, reached Winchester July 2d, 
entered Hagerstown, Md., on the 6th, and, after ter- 
rifying all Maryland, appeared in sight of Washing- 
ton on the nth. The near presence of this veteran 
force to Washington caused the greatest consterna- 
tion. To oppose it there were only some convales- 
cents, some raw and untried troops, and the civilian 
employes of the Quartermaster's Department, and 



I20 Emory Upton. 

Grant was urged to send a sufficient force from the 
Army of the Potomac to avert the danger. 

On the night of the 9th of July, orders were sent 
to General Wright, commanding the Sixth Corps, 
to march the First and Second Divisions of this 
corps from their camps at Petersburg to City Point, 
there to take transports for Washington. Embark- 
ing at daylight, they were landed at Washington on 
the afternoon of the nth, in time to oppose any 
serious attack of Early. On the 12th, Early's attack 
was defeated, and his retreat to the Shenandoah 
began. He was followed by General Wright, who 
was at first inferior to Early in strength, and hence 
was compelled, from prudential motives, to move 
with some caution. The arrival of Hunter's forces 
in the vicinity of Harper's Ferry aided in causing 
the retreat of Early ultimately to Strasburg. On 
the 23d of July the Sixth Corps was withdrawn to 
Washington with the intention of sending it back to 
the Army of the Potomac ; but the enemy, ever 
watchful, took advantage of this withdrawal and, by 
an advance movement, succeeded in defeating Gen- 
eral Crook at Kernstown, in the Valley, which had 
the effect of bringing back the Sixth Corps to 
Harper's Ferry. 

On the 24th of July the Confederate cavalry 
under McCausland began a new raid into Maryland, 
the same day that Crook's forces united with the 
Sixth Corps at Harper's Ferry. Chambersburg, in 
Pennsylvania, was burned ; stores, provisions, and 
horses were captured, and another stampede among 
the farmers of Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania 
occurred. Grant determined to put a stop forever 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 121 

to this disturbing element of his main purpose, and, 
as a result, the army in the Valley was re-enforced 
and General Sheridan was sent to command it. He 
was to defeat and disperse Early's forces, and make 
such a destruction of all the resources of the Shen- 
andoah Valley as to prevent in future any possibility 
of the subsistence of the enemy's forces in that lo- 
cality. 

General Upton, commanding his brigade in the 
First Division of the Sixth Corps, took part in all 
the movements which resulted from the operations 
of Early referred to above, and in the following 
letters gives a brief account of what came under 
his notice : 

Snicker's Gap, July 19, 1864. 

My dear Sister: . . . We have had a blood- 
less campaign since the rebels invaded Maryland. 
The timely arrival of our corps saved Washington 
from capture. The enemy withdrew from the city 
and made a hasty retreat across the Potomac. We 
have followed leisurely and without opposition until 
reaching this point. We are encamped on the west 
side of the Blue Ridge, and hold the east bank of 
the Shenandoah, while the enemy holds the west 
bank. I wish you could enjoy this scenery. From 
our camp on the Blue Ridge the Great Valley of 
Virginia, with its surrounding streams, its groves, 
its fertile fields, and elegant mansions, is spread out 
like a beautiful landscape. Seldom does the tourist 
meet with a view so enchanting. A glance of the 
eye comprehends the Blue Ridge, the Alleghanies, 
Maryland Heights, and innumerable smaller mount- 
ains dotted here and there throughout the Valley, 



122 Emory Upton. 

lending' additional charms to the scenery. I do not 
know where this war may lead us before its close. 
I certainly did not expect to visit this region with a 
portion of the Army of the Potomac. 

Headquarters Second Brigade, i 
Harper's Ferry, Azigust 9, 1864. ) 

My dear Sister : A new campaign will be in- 
augurated to-morrow under the command of Gen- 
eral Sheridan. How soon it may develop the enemy, 
and what may be its consequences no one knows, 
but I trust it will be successful. General Sheridan 
has the appearance of great nerve, and hitherto has 
been quite successful. For one, I am better pleased 
with his appearance than that of any other com- 
mander under whom I have served. How humil- 
iating was the reverse at Petersburg, and how dis- 
graceful on the part of division commanders to 
abandon their troops ! I have never been reckless, 
but I am sure it is a praiseworthy quality when so 
few of our higher commanders expose themselves 
as much as duty requires. It has now arrived at 
that point when ofificers must expose themselves 
freely if they would have their commands do their 
whole duty ; so, whatever I may do, you must not 
attribute it to rashness, but to a soldier's sense of 
duty. 

Harper's Ferry, August 24, 1864. 

My dear Sister: I would like very much to 
spend Saturday and Sunday, September 9th and 
loth, at home, but do not look forward to such an 
event. Our movements depend upon Early, who is 
a contrary fellow, and may give us much trouble 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 123 

about that time. Everything considered, I am not 
justified in allowing you to look forward, as the 
chances against the realization of our wish are nine 
out of ten. I will telegraph in time to let you 
know. 

We had quite a skirmish with the enemy last 
Sunday. I was on the skirmish-line and received 
repeated hints from the rebels that my presence 
was obnoxious, but, as their practice was bad, I es- 
caped unhurt. 

Charlestown, Va., September 2, 1864. 

My dear Sister : We expect to move to-mor- 
row morning up the Valley. This, unfortunatel)', I 
fear, banishes all hope of returning home. I am, 
however, willing to forego all pleasure if for the 
good of the country. The impression is very strong 
that Early is en route to Richmond ; if so, your 
brother may soon date his letters from Petersburg. 
I am in good spirits over both military and political 
prospects. The rebels can not disguise the fact that 
their power is on the wane, and that their race is 
nearly run. While the nomination of McClellan on 
so damnable a platform renders Lincoln's re-elec- 
tion certain, I am out and out for Lincoln. He has 
made many gross blunders, but he is true to his pur- 
pose, and, when the South, after four years of war, 
finds that the North is as determined as ever to crush 
the rebellion, the rebeUion will collapse. Farragut 
is a hero, and deserves all the honors a grateful na- 
tion can bestow. Grant, too, is rising daily in the 
opinion of the officers who were ill-affected toward 
him when he took command. Others that I could 
mention are stumbling-blocks of too great magni- 



124 Emory Upton. 

tude to permit a brilliant execution of any move- 
ment in which they may be implicated. I heartily 
wish they might be relieved. 

Sheridan's forces in the Valley were obliged at 
first to act on the defensive, because of the re- 
enforcements which Early had received. It was, 
nevertheless, believed that in due time the necessi- 
ties of Lee would bring about the recall of a large 
portion, if not the whole, of the Confederate force 
now confronting Sheridan. The latter, ever on the 
alert, hoped to overwhelm the diminished force of 
the enemy when such an event took place, and, to 
better arrange for this, he had established himself, 
in the early part of September, in the vicinity of 
Berryville, in a strong position, threatening Win- 
chester, and having the fine defensive position at 
Halltown to fall back upon in case the enemy pressed 
him too closely. On the 14th of September, the 
main part of the re-enforcements (Kershaw's division) 
which Early had received were finally recalled to 
join Lee's army at Richmond. Early also, at this 
juncture, separated his forces, sending a large part 
to Martinsburg, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 
twenty-two miles north of Winchester. 

Sheridan, quickly taking advantage of these two 
circumstances, concentrated his forces on the Ope- 
quan, near Winchester, and moved directly against > 
Ramseur's division, covering that place. The bat- 
tle took place on the 19th of September, and re- 
sulted in a marked victory for Sheridan. The part 
played by Upton in this action was, as usual, con- 
spicuous. At first in command of his brigade, with 



Regimental and Brigade Commander. 125 

which he was the first, after Wilson's division of 
cavalry, to arrive on the field, the death of General 
Russell gave him the command of the First Divi- 
sion. This division was, in the early part of the 
engagement, held in reserve in rear of the right 
of the Sixth Corps. The advance of this corps 
was along the Winchester and Berryville pikes — 
Getty, with the Second Division, on the left, and 
Ricketts, with the Third Division, on the right; 
the Nineteenth Corps was on the right of the Sixth 
Corps, and connected with it during the first ad- 
vance, until about midday. Due to the change 
of direction of the Berryville pike toward the left, 
an interval occurred between the right of the Sixth 
Corps and the left of the Nineteenth, which in- 
creased in width as the troops advanced. The 
enemy, taking advantage of this, pushed in Battle's 
brigade of Rhodes's division, which, being sup- 
ported by the other brigades of this division and that 
of Gordon, drove back Ricketts's division of the 
Sixth Corps and Grover's of the Nineteenth Corps. 
This, for a short time, not only checked the Union 
advance, but forced back the whole line some dis- 
tance. " At this juncture Russell's division of the 
Sixth Corps splendidly improved a golden oppor- 
tunity. Ordered at once to move up into the front 
line, now needing re-enforcement, this change 
brought it into the gap created by the Confederate 
charge, and, continuing its advance, it struck the 
flank of the hostile force which was sweeping away 
the Union right, and, aided by the Fifth Maine Bat- 
tery, which enfiladed the enemy's line with canister, 
at once turned the tide. The enemy retreated, the 



126 Emory Upton. 

line was re-established, the fugitives were gathered 
from the woods in which they had taken refuge, 
while the gallant division took position on the right 
of its corps. But, in the hour of his triumph, Rus- 
sell had fallen. * His death,' said Sheridan, *' brought 
sadness to every heart in the army.' The broken 
portion of Ricketts's line was quickly reformed be- 
hind the First Division, now under Upton, and again 
moved forward, while Dwight's division, having 
taken the place of Grover's, on the right of the line, 
the latter was promptly rallied and brought up." * 
The report of the operations of the division was 
made by Major Dalton, assistant-adjutant-general. 
" The enemy," he says, " having pushed back the 
Second Division of the Nineteenth Corps, and a 
portion of the Third Division of this corps, moved 
down toward the pike, delivering a severe fire of 
musketry from the woods and corn-fields on the 
right. The Third Brigade (Edwards's) was now 
rapidly moved by the flank to the right of the pike, 
then forward with the First Brigade (Campbell's) 
under a heavy fire to a crest commanding the woods 
and fields through which the enemy moved. This 
advance was very much assisted by the First New 
York Battery, commanded by Lieutenant Johnson, 
which did splendid execution, and was fought with 
gallantry under a very annoying musketry-fire. At 
this time. General Upton moved his brigade into 
line to the right of the pike, at an oblique angle to 
it, thence forward into the woods, delivering heavy 
volleys into masses of the enemy, who were coming 
up. This fresh fire from the Second Brigade (Up- 

* " The Shenandoah Valley," Pond, p. 162. 



Regimental aiid Brigade Commander. 127 

ton's) soon caused the enemy to fall back, so that 
the whole line moved forward to a position which 
was easily held till the latter part of the afternoon, 
though occasionally sharp musketry-fire was inter- 
changed. While personally superintending the ad- 
vance of the First and Third Brigades to the crest 
previously referred to, and which he considered of 
the utmost importance, General Russell was killed 
by a piece of shell which passed through his heart 
— he had just before received a bullet-wound in the 
left breast, but had not mentioned this to any of his 
staff, continuing to urge forward his troops." 
General Upton's account is as follows : 

" After marching about half a mile, the troops 
on the right of the pike gave way ; line was imme- 
diately formed, and soon after Lieutenant-Colonel 
Kent gave me the order to move the brigade to the 
right. The brigade was faced to the right, and 
marched across the pike into a narrow belt of tim- 
ber, where the second line was halted and faced to 
the front. The Second Connecticut continued the 
march, inclining to the right, making our line ob- 
lique to that upon which the enemy was advancing. 
Bayonets were fixed, and instructions given not to 
fire till within close range. The enemy's left, ex- 
tending far beyond our right, advanced till within 
two hundred yards of our line, when a brisk flank- 
fire was opened by the One Hundred and Twenty- 
first and Sixty-fifth New York, causing him to retire 
in great disorder. The whole line then advanced, 
driving the enemy, and inflicting a heavy loss in the 
killed and wounded. The brigade was halted at the 



128 Emory Upton. 

edge of the wood, which position it held till the at- 
tack was renewed in the afternoon. On the left of 
the brigade the Thirty-seventh Massachusetts ren- 
dered invaluable service in supporting Stevens's 
Fifth Maine Battery." 

General Crook, who commanded the Army of 
Western Virginia, known afterward as the Eighth 
Corps, says, in his report of the battle : " The gen- 
eral direction of my line was on the enemy's left 
flank, and at right angles to the line of the Nine- 
teenth Corps. During the latter part of the charge 
there was a succession of stone fences running par- 
allel to my lines, behind which some of the flying 
enemy took refuge, pouring a destructive fire into 
my ranks. On riding to the Nineteenth Corps to 
request them to enfilade these fences, I found Brig- 
adier-General Upton, of the Sixth Corps, on my left, 
making a most gallant charge with the brigade 
against the enemy thus posted, although having 
been in the hottest of the fight since its commence- 
ment in the morning. Finally, the enemy fled from 
these fences, pursued through the town of Winches- 
ter by my command, which was the first to enter 
the city." 

It appears, from the various accounts, that the 
timely arrival of Upton's brigade upon the field of 
battle, and its vigorous attack upon the advancing 
enemy in the gap between the right of the Sixth 
and left of the Nineteenth Corps, were most oppor- 
tune. It turned a possible defeat into certain vic- 
tory. General Upton was severely wounded in the 
right thigh near the close of the battle, but with 



Regzmejttal and Brigade Commander, 129 

the nerve and coolness of the true soldier he re- 
mained until the action was over, although directed 
by General Sheridan to quit the field. It is related 
that, not being able, on account of his wound, to 
remain on his horse, he had a stretcher borne by 
a detachment of the ambulance corps, and in this 
was carried along the line from place to place, 
encouraging his men and giving his orders with a 
courage and devotion full of inspiration to his 
troops. The fortitude thus displayed is worthy of 
a true hero, and stands in noticeable contrast to the 
retirement from the field of others only slightly 
wounded. 

The severe nature of his wound caused him, two 
days after the battle, to take a leave of absence, and, 
proceeding to his home, he awaited with impatience 
its healing sufficiently to allow his return to active 
duty. For his services in this battle he was bre- 
vetted a major-general of volunteers. 



CHAPTER V. 

SERVICE AS DIVISION COMMANDER OF CAVALRY. 

In October, 1864, the returns of the cavalry of 
the Military Division of the Mississippi showed a 
nominal strength of nearly eighty thousand men, 
only fourteen thousand of whom were actually fit 
for duty in the field. This large force was unavail- 
able for the more important duties of cavalry, be- 
cause it was scattered over the States of Kentucky, 
Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, and Georgia, in de- 
tachments of various strength, and was without 
unity, either in command, purpose, discipline, or 
organization. This arm of the service had naturally 
suffered from defective organization and hard serv- 
ice, and had therefore failed to develop the proper 
morale and military spirit. But both General Grant 
and General Sherman believed that, with a proper 
organization and a competent leader, it could attain 
a standard of excellence equal to the cavalry of the 
Army of the Potomac, which would make it a most 
potent factor in a campaign directed toward the 
heart of the Confederacy, and which had not yet 
been touched. 

General James H. Wilson, then commanding a 
division with Sheridan in the Valley of Virginia, 
was detailed by General Grant, and ordered to re- 
port to Sherman for the purpose of reorganizing 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 131 

and commanding the Western cavalry. He was 
promised the assistance of a few good brigade and 
division commanders from the Army of the Poto- 
mac, and requested that Upton, among others, might 
be ordered to join him. This request was granted, 
although the latter had not yet recovered from the 
severe and painful wound received at the battle of 
Winchester, and could not again take the field till 
late in December. It will be remembered that up 
to this time Upton had served only with the artil- 
lery and infantry, but so thoroughly had his quali- 
ties become known throughout the army that 
neither General Grant nor his new commander had 
any doubt about his success as a cavalry leader. 
Indeed, his enterprise, intrepidity, and general 
ability had specially marked him as one of the best 
officers in the army for the duty of assisting in 
bringing the mounted service up to the high degree 
of discipline and efficiency which all arms had 
reached in the Eastern armies^ and which both the 
artillery and infantry had reached in the Western 
armies. In order that his services in the West may 
be better understood, we may briefly refer to a few 
of the salient facts connected with the cavalry com- 
mands in the Military Division of the Mississippi at 
this epoch. 

Three divisions of cavalry, about five thousand 
in the aggregate, commanded by Generals McCook, 
Garrard, and Kilpatrick, were attached to the Army 
of the Cumberland. In the Army of the Ohio the 
cavalry consisted of a portion of a division near At- 
lanta under General Garrard, while Capron's bri- 
gade was awaiting a remount at Louisville, Kentucky, 



132 Emory Upton. 

all under the command of General George Stone- 
man. There were two divisions of cavalry belong- 
ing to the Army of the Tennessee, one in West Ten- 
nessee, under General Edward Hatch, and the other 
in Missouri and Tennessee, near Memphis, under 
Colonel E. F. Winslow, Fourth Iowa Cavalry — the 
whole commanded by Brigadier-General B. H. 
Grierson. Many detachments, employed as escorts, 
foragers, orderlies, hospital attendants, etc., were 
to be found in all the armies. In addition to the 
above, a few regiments of good cavalry and a di- 
vision of mounted infantry were located in Ken- 
tucky and East Tennessee. There were in all 
about eighty-two regiments of mounted troops, or 
rated as such, spread over a wide territory, par- 
tiall}^ paralyzed, at least, by the scattering policy to 
which this arm of the service had been subjected. 

Although General Sherman expressed no great 
faith in the views and plans of General Wilson, or 
in the possibility of their practical application within 
the limits of the time available, he cordially con- 
sented to their adoption, and frankly said he would 
not undertake to divide the honors which the re- 
organized cavalry might gain for its new command- 
er. He accordingly issued the order constituting 
these widely scattered and fragmentary bodies into 
the Cavalry Corps of the Military Division of the 
Mississippi, under the command of General Wilson. 
This order was issued at Gaylesville, Alabama, on 
the 9th of November, 1864, and, while it marked a 
great epoch in the history of the cavalry in the 
West, much had yet to be done to make the corps 
in effect something more than a mere name. The 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 133 

organization consisted of seven divisions, com- 
manded by Generals McCook, Long, Kilpatrick, 
Grierson, Hatch, Johnson, and Knipe, respectively. 

The Third Division (Kilpatrick's), having been 
selected to accompany General Sherman in his 
march to the sea, had been strengthened by the ab- 
sorption of nearly all the good horses left with the 
army, and by bringing forward the detached men 
who were guarding railroads and block-houses ; the 
strength of its three brigades was thus increased to 
about five thousand men for duty. The dismounted 
divisions were sent back to Louisville for remounts, 
and it was hoped that this could be effected in time 
to make use of them in the operations against Hood. 
By the 14th of November Wilson had a force of 
eight thousand mounted and two thousand un- 
mounted men, and did employ them with vigor and 
effect in the decisive battle of Nashville, December 
15th and i6th, although but a short time had elapsed 
since this force was without cohesion or military 
value. 

During the pursuit of Hood the cavalry cap- 
tured thirty-two guns, eleven caissons, twelve colors, 
three thousand two hundred and thirty prisoners, 
and caused the abandonment or destruction of many 
wagons, horses, and mules; belonging to Hood's 
army. 

It had been General Grant's design that an ac- 
tive winter campaign into Alabama should imme- 
diately follow the defeat of Hood, and it was ex- 
pected that the initiative would be made about the 
latter part of December. But many causes united 
to greatly modify the original plan and somewhat 



134 Emory Upton. 

delay the contemplated movement, so that it finally 
resulted in a campaign by the cavalry corps itself, 
beginning in the latter part of March. 

Wilson had been directed to assemble his caval- 
ry, after Hood's defeat, in the vicinity of Huntsville, 
Alabama, But, because of the impoverished state 
of the country, due to its having been overrun by 
the forces of both parties, and because of the lack 
of railroad facilities for the supply of large bodies 
of troops, headquarters were established at Grav- 
elly Springs, fifteen miles below Florence, on the 
Tennessee River, and the command was collected 
in cantonments between that place and Waterloo. 
During February and early March, all the divisions 
of the corps (except the Third, which had accom- 
panied Sherman in his march to the sea) had arrived 
and were placed in camp. Every effort was made 
to drill and discipline these troops, so that they 
would form a coherent and reliable body of horse. 

Thorough amalgamation was impossible during 
the retreat before Hood from the Tennessee to the 
Cumberland, or during the preparation for the bat- 
tle of Nashville. Then during the pursuit of Hood 
the troops and horses had been severely pushed, 
and their powers of endurance nearly exhausted, 
and yet, while their spirits had been raised by their 
successes during the battle and subsequent pursuit, 
the discipline had suffered in some degree. Roll- 
calls had been neglected, and many essential mih- 
tary duties had been perfunctorily performed. As 
soon as the command was assembled on the Ten- 
nessee, the corps commander, aided by a large and 
an efficient staff, set himself to correct these short- 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 135 

comings, and soon had the pleasure of seeing unsol- 
dierly conduct and all irregularity replaced by a 
prompt and willing obedience and the strictest dis- 
ciplme. Both men and horses were comfortably 
sheltered and supplied. They were drilled at every 
opportune moment, and soon there grew up an 
organized body of horse capable of efficient employ- 
ment. The difficulties which, at first, seemed almost 
insurmountable, had been gradually dissipated, till 
finally everything was in readiness for a campaign 
into the very heart of the South. But the rainy 
weather of March had filled the Tennessee till its 
banks and bottom-lands were flooded ; the roads 
were in a frightful condition, and that part of the 
country which was not a quagmire was a barren 
waste. For ninety miles south of the Tennessee the 
country had been completely stripped of all sup- 
plies, and hence it was necessary to accumulate 
food, forage, and munitions of all kinds, so that the 
command could move out at the earliest moment 
that the roads would permit. The aggregate force 
with which the corps was expected to penetrate the 
enemy's territory was twenty-five thousand men. 
But orders in February directed that one division be 
sent to Canby, operating at Mobile ; one division be 
left at Chickasaw to watch the Mississippi and Ten- 
nessee Rivers ; and one be detached for service in 
Tennessee. The Seventh Division, General Knipe, 
was selected for the first detail ; the Fifth, General 
Hatch, for the second ; and the Sixth, General John- 
son, for the last — in all about ten thousand troopers. 
General Wilson was left with about fourteen 
thousand men, of whom fifteen hundred were not 



136 Emory Upton. 

mounted, to undertake his campaign in a new and 
untried territory against an active cavalry force of 
the enemy, commanded by one of its most promi- 
nent cavalry leaders, General Forrest. 

We will now see how General Upton became 
connected with the operations which followed. 
Severely wounded at the battle of Winchester, in 
Virginia, October 19, 1864, he was thereby pre- 
vented from immediately joining his new command. 
He had played so conspicuous a part m this battle, 
and his bravery and military ability were so marked, 
that the Government promptly rewarded him with 
the brevet of major-general " for gallant and meri- 
torious services at the battles of Winchester and 
Fisher's Hill, Virginia." His commission was dated 
October 19th, and he accordingly took rank from 
that date. But his wound was of such a nature 
that it was not until near the middle of December 
that his physical condition permitted his return 
to active duty. He had had active field service 
with the artillery as a subaltern and as a chief of 
an artillery brigade, as well as varied experience 
with the infantry in command of a regiment, bri- 
gade, and division, in many bloody engagements. 
This service had been wholly with the gallant and 
well-disciplined Army of the Potomac, in which 
he had experienced the exhilaration of marked suc- 
cesses, as well as the humiliation of sad disasters. 
He was now to close his active career as a fight- 
ing soldier in the cavalry, and on the 13th of De- 
cember, although his wound had not yet closed, he 
reported in person to Major-General Wilson, and 
was assigned to the command of the Fourth Divis- 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 1 3 7 

ion of the cavalry corps. His new rank carried 
with it new responsibilities as well as new honors. 
It was not without some modest misgivings as to 
his adaptability to the cavalry service that he turned 
his back on his comrades in the East to enter upon 
his new duties in the West. After his assignment, 
although still physically weak, he proceeded to 
Memphis, to bring a portion of his command located 
in that vicinity to the cavalry camp at Gravelly 
Springs, Alabama. 

On his arrival at the cavalry camp he at once en- 
tered upon the active work of drill, discipline, and 
organization. These irksome but vastly important 
duties received at Upton's hands that thorough at- 
tention that characterized all of his labor, for he 
well knew that the harvest he hoped to reap in the 
coming campaign would be in direct proportion to 
the efficient labor which must be expended during 
the season of preparation. He did this to the com- 
plete satisfaction of his corps commander, and he 
thus so gained the confidence of his own officers and 
men that both he and they became eagerly anxious 
for the campaign to open. His hopes and aspira- 
tions were at this time thus expressed : 

Gravelly Springs, March 14, 1865. 

My dear Sister : We expect to break camp to- 
morrow preparatory to crossing the Tennessee and 
entering upon the expedition to Alabama. The 
streams are swollen, which may delay us some days, 
but it is the intention to move as soon as the weather 
and roads will permit. 

The present campaign, I trust, will seal the doom 



138 Emory Upton. 

of the Confederacy. I can not see how it can be 
otherwise, unless great and unexpected reverses be- 
fall our arms. In that event it will only delay the 
final result. Peace must soon come, and how wel- 
come it will be to all ! 

Hobbes was not a soldier, or he never would 
have advanced the idea that " war is the natural 
condition of man." I am anxious to be on the move. 
Camp-life is dull and monotonous, and I always 
welcome the variety of campaign. Henry's wound 
worries me considerably, and I fear it will under- 
mine his health. Mine has healed over, but a per- 
verse nerve keeps it constantly in mind. I do not 
suffer at all from it, only there is a disagreeable sen- 
sation about the knee. 

Before giving an outline of the campaign, it may 
be well to devote a few words to the strength and 
distribution of the enemy's forces available for 
opposing Wilson's movements, referring briefly in 
passing to the events that followed the defeat of 
Hood at Nashville. 

After this battle, so disastrous to the enemy, 
Hood established his headquarters at Tuscumbia, 
and, early in January, collected the remnants of his 
infantry at Tupelo, Mississippi. Subsequently, a 
large part of his force was transferred to the East 
by the only railroad then open to them from Co- 
lumbus, Mississippi, Macon, Augusta, and Columbia, 
S. C, to enable it to take part in the operations against 
Sherman in North Carolina. About the latter part 
of December, General N. B. Forrest, who com- 
manded the enemy's cavalry, collected his corps in 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 139 

the vicinity of Corinth, with the exception of a bri- 
gade under Roddy, who was left to cover Hood's 
rear at Tuscumbia. Another brigade of cavalry 
under Armstrong was recalled from Corinth to 
strengthen this force, while Hood's infantry were 
passing west from Cherokee Station to Tupelo. 

It was known to Forrest that he was soon to be 
placed in command of all the Confederate cavalry 
which was in the Military Department of Alabama, 
Mississippi, and East Louisiana, and, therefore, from 
the time of establishing himself in winter quarters 
at Corinth, he devoted himself to the concentration, 
discipline, and reorganization of his command. 
Bell's and Rucker's brigades of Tennessee cavalry, 
which were near their homes, and who would with 
certainty return to their colors, were furloughed 
for a short time to enable them to procure fresh 
horses and clothing. The rest of the cavalry was 
brought to the vicinity of Okolona, Mississippi, a 
country rich in forage. West Tennessee, Northern 
Alabama, and Mississippi, beyond the lines of Fed- 
eral occupation, were thoroughly patrolled to gather 
in all absentees, and to impress mercilessly all able- 
bodied men that were fit for service. Picked and 
trusty scouts were sent into Middle Tennessee to 
learn all that could be gathered about the contem- 
plated movements of the Union forces. 

Forrest assumed his new command in obedience 
to orders February 24th, and on the 28th received 
his new rank of lieutenant-general. In i-eorgan- 
izing his corps he had united troops from the same 
State into brigades and divisions as far as practica- 
ble. Thus the Mississippi brigades formed a divis- 



140 Emory Upton. 

ion commanded by Brigadier-General Chalmers, the 
Alabama brigades a division under General Buford, 
and the Tennessee brigades, to which the Texas 
troops were also added, a division commanded by 
General Jackson. The famous Second Missouri 
Cavalry, commanded by Colonel McCulloch, who 
had heretofore commanded a brigade, were attached 
to Forrest's headquarters as a special scouting force 
under Forrest's immediate direction. The aggre- 
gate strength of his command at this time was esti- 
mated at about ten thousand men. 

General Forrest himself was one of the ablest of 
the Confederate cavalry commanders. He had risen 
from a subordinate position to the highest honors 
by merit alone. Although he had had but little 
education, and no culture, he possessed the native 
qualities of a leader of cavalry. He was a man of 
strong will, ready resource, great energy, and un- 
tiring activity. These qualifications, united to a 
sound judgment and quick decision, served to make 
him a successful commander and a dangerous an- 
tagonist. He enforced a pitiless conscription in the 
territory of his command, and during the period of 
preparation he devoted himself assiduously to re- 
horsing his cavalry and artillery, and the complete 
reorganization of his forces. 

By the middle of March, Chalmers's division had 
an effective aggregate of forty-five hundred men, 
divided into three brigades, commanded by Briga- 
dier-Generals F. C. Armstrong, Wirt Adams, and 
P. B. Starke. Jackson's division amounted to thirty- 
eight hundi'ed men, the two Tennessee brigades of 
which were commanded by Brigadier-Generals T. 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 141 

H. Bell and A. W. Campbell. Buford was in the 
vicinity of Montevallo, Alabama, completing the re- 
organization of his division. Roddy's brigade of 
this division was located in North Alabama, watch- 
ing Wilson's movements. The other brigades, 
Clanton's and Armistead's, were detached to the 
vicinity of Mobile, guarding its flank approaches. 

Forrest had retained his headquarters at Corinth 
until January 12th; then, leaving Ross's Texans to 
garrison that place, he removed his headquarters to 
Verona, Mississippi, fifty-five miles south, where he 
remained till March ist, and then established him- 
self at West Point, Mississippi. Wilson's concen- 
tration at Gravelly Springs and Waterloo and his 
preparations for a campaign were early made known 
to him by Roddy, commanding his advanced bri- 
gade. In anticipation of Wilson's movement, Arm- 
strong's and Starke's brigades, thirty -two hundred 
strong, of Chalmers's division, had been ordered, on 
the 17th of March, to take post at Pickensville, Ala- 
bama ; the other brigade, General Wirt Adams, was 
then moving from Jackson, Mississippi, to Colum- 
bus, to protect the line of the Mobile and Ohio Rail- 
road. Bell's and Campbell's brigades of Jackson's 
division were concentrated at West Point. The 
whole of this disposition was due to the uncertainty 
as to whether Wilson's contemplated campaign had 
for its object an advance into Mississippi or into 
Alabama. 

It is certain, from what is now known, that great 
misconception existed on the part of the Confeder- 
ate commander, Lieutenant-General Richard Tay- 
lor, as to the importance and magnitude of General 



142 Emory Upton. 

Wilson's design. From his headquarters at Me- 
ridian, Mississippi, he informed General Lee, at as 
late a date as March 27th, that Wilson's movement 
was a raid, and that it was his intention to meet and 
whip it before it could advance far into the country. 
The operations of General Steele's command, which 
moved from Pensacola on the 20th of March, and was 
directed on Pollard, threatening Montgomery, had 
served to distract the enemy, and caused it to appear 
to be of prime importance. General Buford was 
therefore directed, March 23d, to move at once from 
Montevallo to Greenville, via Selma, and Forrest was 
ordered to send Chalmers's and Jackson's divisions 
to Selma, with the intention of making a concentra- 
tion at Greenville to meet this threatening movement 
of Steele's column. But, before these troops could 
make much distance southward, they were quickly 
recalled to meet the more serious danger caused by 
Wilson's advance. It was now quite patent to the 
Confederate commander that Wilson's movement 
would be against Selma, and that it would need all 
their energy and every available man to interpose 
in his Hne of advance to prevent the accomplish- 
ment of his object. Forrest, in obedience to tele- 
graphic orders of March 24th, had ordered his 
forces from the Mississippi line, designing to con- 
centrate them upon Selma before it was definitely 
known to be Wilson's objective. 

General Wilson began his movement south, from 
Chickasaw and Waterloo, with the First, Second, 
and Fourth Cavalry Divisions, on the 22d of March. 
His command numbered twelve thousand five hun- 
dred mounted and fifteen hundred dismounted. 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 143 

They were all veterans, in excellent discipline and 
condition considering the limited time which had 
been available for this purpose. But, as they had 
been assembled in cantonments, freed from the evils 
of disintegration, and had been thoroughly drilled 
under the eyes of their own officers, much had been 
done to make the confidence mutual. The division 
and other commanders, although mostly young 
men, were competent and experienced officers, and 
were full of confidence in themselves and their 
commands. 

Clear and explicit instructions had been given 
before the march began, and certain discretionary 
powers had been allowed the division commanders 
as to march and manoeuvre. The general opera- 
tions and routes were outlined as far as Selma, and 
the subsequent movements were to be determined 
from that point. 

Each trooper was directed to carry five days' 
light rations in haversacks, one pair of extra horse- 
shoes, and one hundred rounds of ammunition. 
Pack-mules were loaded with five days' rations of 
hard bread and ten days' sugar and salt. The 
wagon-train was to carry forty-five days' coffee, 
twenty days' sugar, fifteen days' salt, and eighty 
rounds of ammunition. Such was the total allow- 
ance for a sixty days' campaign, the allowance of 
hard bread and forage being limited to that neces- 
sary to serve the command while passing through 
the sterile portions of Alabama. It was expected 
that it would subsequently live on the country. 
The supply -train consisted of two hundred and 
fifty wagons, which were to be sent back as they 



144 Emory Upton. 

were emptied, and there was, in addition, a canvas 
ponton train of thirty boats, transported by fifty- 
six six-mule teams, under the escort of a battalion 
of the Twelfth Missouri Cavalry, Major Hubbard 
commanding. 

We will now follow briefly the movements of the 
cavalry corps, and then direct our attention to the 
particular operations of the Fourth Division. 

Selma, distant about one hundred and eighty 
miles in a straight line, could only be reached by a 
fatiguing march of nearly two hundred and fifty. 
The roads by which the columns moved were at 
this time very heavy, due to incessant rains, and 
were intersected by the numerous streams which 
form the head-waters of the Black Warrior and the 
Cahawba Rivers. These streams were swollen, their 
bottom-lands muddy, and the crossings difficult and 
often dangerous ; the country itself is hilly and bar- 
ren. 

The advance was made first on diverging roads: 
Upton's division moving by the easterly route, 
through Barton's Station, Russelville, Mount Hope, 
and Jasper, to Sanders's Ferry, on the West Fork of 
the Black Warrior River ; Long's division by Chero- 
kee Station, Frankfort, Russelville, thence south by 
the Tuscaloosa road crossing Upper Bear Creek, 
then turning east by Thorn Hill, crossing the forks 
of the Buttahatchie, reached Jasper and the ford 
on the Black Warrior with but little loss of time. 
McCook's division followed Long's division to Bear 
Creek, and marched thence toward Tuscaloosa as 
far as Eldridge, and then eastwardly to Jasper. 

Upton's division crossed the Mulberry Fork of 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 145 

the Black Warrior on the 27th. A violent rain- 
storm filled the streams to their banks, and threat- 
ened to prevent the rest of the command from mak- 
ing a junction with it. With great skill and labor 
this danger was happily averted, and thus an oppor- 
tunity for a possible partial successful resistance on 
the part of the enemy was lost, had they known in 
time of this march and taken advantage of the situa- 
tion. 

From captured scouts of the enemy, Wilson 
learned at Jasper, on the 27th, that one of Chalmers's 
brigades (Armstrong's) was marching on Tusca- 
loosa by Bridgeville. Fearing that Forrest might 
interpose all of his available forces on his line of ad- 
vance, he at once decided to strip his divisions to 
the lightest available marching condition, taking 
only his pack-train and artillery, and move with the 
greatest possible rapidity through Elyton to Mon- 
tevallo. To protect his train, he left with it all of 
the unmounted troops and a mounted battalion, and 
directed it to push on as far as Elyton, where it 
would receive further orders. 

The corps moved now with the greatest celerity 
toward Montevallo, reaching the Cahawba River 
on the 30th, having marched that day forty-three 
miles. Thus in nine days Wilson had moved his 
three divisions over poor roads and through a diffi- 
cult and sterile country, and had them well in hand 
for either marching or fighting. 

Let us now see what the condition of the enemy 

was at this time. It will be remembered that 

Roddy, commanding a brigade of Buford's division, 

was, until about March 26th, watching Wilson and 

7 



146 Emory Upton. 

guarding Northern Alabama ; and that through 
General Taylor's failure to comprehend the true 
nature or magnitude of the contemplated move- 
ment of the cavalry corps, while unduly magnify- 
ing Steele's advance from Pensacola, Roddy had 
been hurried from his very important position and 
ordered to proceed with all haste to Greenville. 
General Buford, who was in the vicinity of Monte- 
vallo, was ordered to proceed to Greenville March 
23d ; and Chalmers and Jackson, who had been 
held in readiness, since March 17th, to march at 
"six hours' notice," were, on March 25th, ordered 
to the same point. General Forrest left West 
Point, Mississippi, March 27th, and at Columbus he 
learned, through scouts, that Wilson was making 
for Montevallo, which he immediately reported to 
his superior officer, General Taylor. He saw at 
once the threatening character of this movement, 
and urged the immediate concentration of all pos- 
sible resources for the defense of Selma. 

Forrest, directing Jackson to push forward with 
the utmost celerity toward Tuscaloosa, reached that 
point himself on the morning of the 28th, after a 
ride of thirty hours. 

Jackson had started with his command from 
West Point, Mississippi, on the 26th, and was mov- 
ing, on the route assigned to him, toward Selma, 
when he was diverted, as stated above, toward Tus- 
caloosa. Armstrong's brigade moved from Pick- 
ensville March 26th, and was overtaken by General 
Chalmers with his staff on the 28th. at Greensboro, 
it having been detained somewhat in the passage 
of the Black Warrior. At Marion, Armstrong was 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 147 

halted and Starke's brigade ordered thither, in con- 
sequence of an order from Forrest prescribing con- 
centration. From the relaxation indulged in by 
Armstrong's brigade at Marion, and the fact that 
mere rumors only existed in regard to the move- 
ments of the Union forces, it is quite evident that 
the serious nature of his position had not yet fully 
penetrated the mind of the enemy. On the after- 
noon of the 30th Starke's brigade reached Marion, 
and that night at eleven o'clock orders were re- 
ceived from General Taylor, directing the division 
to move upon Plantersville. Hence at this epoch, 
March 30th, we find Forrest's command scattered 
in every direction, and without any apparent direct- 
ing head or plan of operations. 

Meanwhile Wilson, at Elyton, had dispatched 
Croxton's brigade, of McCook's division, fifteen 
hundred strong, on the 30th, to attempt the capture 
of Tuscaloosa, and, if successful, to destroy the stores 
and rejoin the main column, via Centreville. If, how- 
ever, he found the enemy in force, he was to hold 
them in check and prevent a junction with the rest 
of Forrest's command in Wilson's immediate front. 
On his way to Tuscaloosa he fell in with the rear- 
guard of Jackson's division at Trion, and interposed 
himself between it and Jackson's trains. 

This occurred on the 31st, and Jackson, who had 
reached within eight miles of Scottsboro, on his 
way from Tuscaloosa to join Forrest, determined to 
attack him early the next morning. This he did, 
capturing some prisoners, but not crippling Crox- 
ton in the least, who immediately moved northeast- 
erly by an unfrequented road, and marched rapidly 



148 Emory Upton. 

for ten or fifteen miles, then turned west, and, after 
a forty-mile march that day, arrived at Johnson's 
Ferry on the Black Warrior River. General Jack- 
son, somewhat elated at his success, sent a dispatch 
to the commanding officer at Tuscaloosa, informing 
him that he had dispersed Croxton's force, and 
added : " It is scattered in the mountains and can 
not again be collected. Assure the fair ladies that 
the tread of the vandal hordes shall not pollute the 
streets of their beautiful city." As a sequel to this, 
it may here be stated that Croxton marched thirty- 
two miles the next day, and at 10 P. M. arrived on 
the opposite side of the river from Tuscaloosa, and 
received the surrender of the town at i A. M. on 
the 3d. 

When Wilson heard, through dispatches capt- 
ured at Randolph, that Jackson was being delayed 
by Croxton, he immediately sent McCook with La 
Grange's brigade to Centreville, where the road 
from Trion crosses the Cahawba, to make a junc- 
tion with Croxton, or at least hold Jackson in check 
and prevent his joining Forrest. McCook met 
Jackson on April 2d, and, finding him too strong, 
burned the bridge over the Cahawba at Centreville, 
thus preventing Jackson's crossing the Cahawba, 
and effectually eliminating Jackson's division from 
all participation in opposing his march to Selma. 
McCook, after accomplishing this important serv- 
ice, marched via Randolph, joined the trains on 
the 5th of April, and brought them safely into 
Selma. 

Let us next ascertain what became of Chalmers's 
two brigades. Moving at 1 1 P. M., on the 30th, from 



Division Comma?ider of Cavalry. 149 

Marion to Planters ville, owing to bad roads and 
delay about ponton train, Chalmers, with Starke's 
brigade, did not cross the Cahawba till late on the 
31st. Then swamps and the condition of the roads 
caused him to diverge from his projected route, and 
seek a more practicable way, encumbered as he was 
with the artillery and trains of the command. For- 
rest, not knowing where he was, in the mean time 
telegraphed Taylor at Selma for information, and 
received in reply an answer to the effect that he was 
at Plantersville, which at that time was in the rear 
of Forrest's advanced position at Randolph. Under 
the impression that this information was correct, 
Forrest claims that he ordered the position at Ebe- 
nezer Church to be held, making allowance for this 
brigade in the disposition of his troops. Arm- 
strong's brigade having been detached from his 
command on April ist, joined Forrest at 11 p.m. of 
that day, on the road between Marion and Planters- 
ville. 

Roddy, having crossed the Alabama at Selma on 
his way south to Greenville, was directed to turn 
about on March 30th, and hasten north to report to 
General Daniel Adams at Montevallo. Recrossing 
the river and making a forced march of fifty miles, 
he reached Montevallo in time to participate in the 
defense of that field. 

The generalship on the part of the Confederates 
had succeeded in throwing out of Wilson's path 
three of their best brigades, viz., Bell's and Camp- 
bell's of Jackson's division, and Starke's of Chal- 
mers's division, together with the artillery of For- 
rest's corps, and leaving only Armstrong's, Roddy's, 



150 Emory Upton. 

and Crossland's brigades, and the inferior troops 
which Adams had collected together in the vicinity 
of Montevallo, to oppose him. We can now follow 
understandingly the active operations of the Fed- 
eral cavalry. 

Upton's division, leading, reached Montevallo on 
the evening of March 30th, having destroyed impor- 
tant and valuable iron-works during the day. He 
was ordered to await the arrival of the corps, and 
before noon of the next day the command was again 
concentrated. At Montevallo the first serious stand 
was made by the enemy, whose forces consisted of 
Roddy's brigade, coming up after a forced march 
from Selma, Crossland's Kentucky brigade, and 
other troops collected by General Daniel Adams, 
who commanded the whole. 

From the belfry of the village church, Upton's 
line of mounted skirmishers could be seen a mile in 
front of the village, and occasional puffs of smoke 
told that the enemy was feeling our lines. Upton's 
troopers, not on the skirmish-line, were massed be- 
hind the village in some fields, out of view of the 
enemy, while Long's splendid division of five thou- 
sand troopers was slowly closing up. Upton had 
ordered his skirmishers to retire slowly before the 
enemy, and toward i P. M. his men could be seen 
moving in skirmishing order toward the Union lines. 
Moving to the rear and wheeling about to fire, every 
movement was marked with cool precision. When 
he had retired within a few hundred yards of the 
village the corps commander said : " Upton, I think 
you have let them come far enough ; move out ! " 
In a moment the skirmish-line was re-enforced, and 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 151 

Upton moved down the road with his main body in 
column of fours at the trot until clear of the village, 
when the Fifth Iowa, Colonel Young commanding, 
made a handsome charge, driving the enemy and 
capturing fifty prisoners from Roddy's command 
and Crossland's Kentucky Brigade. The enemy 
disputed every creek-bottom and ridge with great 
stubbornness, but Upton's impetuosity, ably sec- 
onded by that of his brigade commanders, Wins- 
low and Alexander, drove everything before him. 
When the enemy had been forced back to Six-Mile 
Creek, the command halted for the night on the 
road to Randolph, and on the next day at dawn 
entered that place. 

At Randolph, Upton's scouts captured the im- 
portant dispatches from Jackson to Forrest, and 
from Forrest to Jackson, before referred to, which 
gave Wilson the key to the whole situation. From 
the first he learned that Forrest, with a part of his 
command, was in his front, a fact he had already ob- 
tained from prisoners captured ; that Jackson, with 
his division, and all the wagons and artillery of the 
Confederate cavalry, marching from Tuscaloosa via 
Trion toward Centreville, had encamped the night 
before at Hill's plantation, three miles beyond Scotts- 
boro ; that Croxton, with the brigade detached at 
Elyton, had struck Jackson's rear-guard at Trion, 
and interposed himself between it and the train ; 
that Jackson had discovered this, and intended to 
attack Croxton at daylight, April ist. He learned 
from the other dispatch that Chalmers had also ar- 
rived at Marion, Alabama, and had been ordered to 
cross to the east side of the Cahawba, for the pur- 



152 Emory Upton. 

pose of joining Forrest in front, or in the works at 
Selma. Also that a force of dismounted men were 
stationed at Centreville, with orders to hold the 
bridge over the Cahawba as long as possible, and in 
no event to let it fall into the hands of the Federals, 

Shortly after the interception of these dispatches, 
Wilson heard from Croxton at Trion, the night be- 
fore, that he had struck Jackson's rear ; and, instead 
of pushing on toward Tuscaloosa, as he was ordered, 
he would follow and endeavor to bring him to an 
engagement, hoping thereby to prevent his junction 
with Forrest. 

Having this information, Wilson directed Mc- 
Cook to strengthen the battalion previously or- 
dered to Centreville by a regiment, and to follow 
with LaGrange's entire brigade, leaving all pack- 
trains and wagons with the main column, so that he 
could march with the utmost celerity ; and, after 
seizing the Centreville bridge and leaving it under 
the protection of a sufficient guard, to cross the Ca- 
hawba, and continue his march by the Scottsboro 
road toward Trion, His orders were to attack and 
break up Jackson's forces, form a junction with 
Croxton if practicable, and rejoin the corps with 
his entire division by the Centreville road to Sel- 
ma. Although McCook did not leave Randolph 
till near 1 1 A. M., and the distance to Scottsboro 
was nearly forty miles, Wilson hoped by the move- 
ment to do more than secure the Centreville bridge, 
and prevent Jackson from joining the force in front 
of the main column. 

On the next morning the march was resumed, 
Upton taking the left-hand or eastern road, and 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 153 

Long confronting the enemy. Long skirmished all 
day, driving the enemy slowly but steadily before 
him. 

At 3 P. M., Forrest, having been re-enforced by 
Armstrong's brigade, and some mihtia, halted near 
Ebenezer Church, five miles from Plantersville, and 
gave battle. Forrest chose his position north of 
Bogler's Creek, his right resting on Mulberry 
Creek, his left on a high wooded ridge. He posted 
three pieces of artillery on the Randolph road and 
two on the Maplesville road, upon which Upton 
was advancing. His forces consisted of Roddy's bri- 
gade, Crossland's Kentucky brigade, Armstrong's 
brigade, and three hundred infantry just from 
Selma. 

As soon as Long could deploy, he made his at- 
tack, and Upton, always prompt and fortunate, 
hearing the cheers and firing, took the trot and 
turned the right fiank of the enemy at the oppor- 
tune moment. 

Forrest, expecting to be re-enforced by Chal- 
mers, who was reported within supporting distance, 
but who had really gone to Marion with Starke's 
brigade, placed his line of battle in front of the forks 
of the roads, with three guns on the left-hand road, 
on Avhich Long was advancing. The right-hand 
road was not well watched or strongly held, as Up- 
ton's advance met with but little resistance. A 
squadron of the Seventeenth Indiana, Miller's bri- 
gade, Long's division, charged the three-gun battery 
with sabers, crushed down the gun-carriages, and 
passed beyond, but were driven back by the ene- 
my's supports. The sharp fighting soon resulted 



154 Emory Upto7t. 

in forcing Forrest in confusion from the field with 
a loss of three guns and four hundred prisoners. 
That night the two Union divisions camped at 
Plantersville, nineteen miles from Selma. At this 
place the enemy, having halted to obtain forage and 
subsistence stores, were driven out in hot haste, 
Forrest, with his escort, making a gallant resistance. 

At daylight of the 2d of April our troops moved 
out on the Summerville road, Long's division lead- 
ing, closely followed by Upton. The enemy of- 
fered no resistance, and early in the afternoon the 
advanced troopers came in sight of Selma. At 
Elyton, Upton had obtained and sent to corps head- 
quarters detailed information of the defenses, of the 
general correctness of which Wilson satisfied him- 
self afterward by a careful reconnaissance. 

Selma is situated on the north bank of the Ala- 
bama River, about one hundred feet above the mean 
level of the water. It contained an arsenal and 
foundries for making shot and shell, and was the 
most important depot of the enemy in the South- 
west. 

Its fortifications consisted of a continuous line of 
infantry parapets, with ample works for artillery de- 
fense, surrounding the city at a distance of three 
miles, with its flanks resting on the Alabama River. 
An interior line of stronger profile was also partially 
constructed. These works were defended by a 
force nearly seven thousand strong, consisting of 
Roddy's, Armstrong's, and Crossland's brigades of 
cavalry, and the militia and infantry collected by 
General Daniel Adams, all under the command of 
Forrest himself. So rapid had been the advance of 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 155 

the national cavalry that the town was invested be- 
fore Chalmers, with Starke's brigade, could reach 
it from Marion. 

Wilson had his troops in position shortly after 4 
p. M. He directed Long to march by the flanks of 
brigades, approach the city, and cross to the Sum- 
merville road, without exposing his men, and to de- 
velop his line as soon as he could arrive in front of 
the works. Upton was directed to move on the 
Range Line road, sending a squadron on the Burns- 
ville road. 

Having decided to assault the works without 
delay. Long was directed to move diagonally across 
the road upon which his troops were posted, while 
Upton, at his own request, with a picked force of 
three hundred men, was directed to penetrate the 
swamps upon his left, break through the line cov- 
ered by it, and turn the enemy's right, the rest of 
his division to conform to the movement. The sig- 
nal for the advance was to be the discharge of a 
single gun from Rodney's battery, to be given as 
soon as Upton's turning movement had developed 
itself. 

Before that plan could be executed, and while 
waiting for the signal to advance. Long was in- 
formed that a strong force of the Confederate cav- 
alry had begun skirmishing with his rear, and 
threatened a general attack upon his pack-train and 
led horses. He had left a force of six companies 
well posted at the creek in anticipation of that move- 
ment, afterward ascertained to have been made by 
Chalmers in obedience to the instructions of For- 
rest. Fearing lest the affair might compromise the 



y 



156 Emory Upton. 

assault upon the main position, Long (having 
strengthened the rear by another regiment) deter- 
mined to make the assault without waiting for the 
signal, and gave the order to advance. His com- 
mand was formed in single line, dismounted, the 
Seventeenth Indiana Mounted Infantry on the right, 
and next, from right to left, the One Hundred and 
Twenty-third Illinois Mounted Infantry, Ninety- 
eighth Illinois Mounted Infantry, Fourth Ohio Cav- 
alry, and Fourth Michigan Cavalry ; in all eleven 
hundred and sixty officers and men. They had to 
charge across open ground six hundred yards to the 
works, exposed to the fire of artillery and musketry, 
and that part of the line which they were to assault 
was manned by Armstrong's brigade, numbering fif- 
teen hundred men, and regarded as the best of For- 
rest's corps. Long's dismounted troops, all armed 
with the Spencer magazine gun, sprang forward in 
an unfaltering manner. The flanks had some diffi- 
culty in crossing a ravine and marshy soil, but in 
less than fifteen minutes the line had swept over the 
works and driven the Confederates in confusion 
toward the city. But the loss was considerable, 
being in all forty killed and two hundred and sixty 
wounded, and among the wounded was General 
Long himself, who was temporarily succeeded in 
command by Colonel Minty. Wilson, arriving on 
that part of the field just after the works were car- 
ried, at once notified Upton of Long's success, and 
directed Colonel Minty to form Long's division for 
a new advance. The garrison had occupied the new 
line near the edge of the city. A gallant charge by 
the Fourth United States Cavalry was repulsed, but 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 157 

it rapidly reformed on the left. It was now quite 
dark. Upton's division advancing at the same time, 
a new charge was made by the Fourth Ohio, Seven- 
teenth Indiana, and Fourth United States Cavalry, 
dismounted. The troops, inspired by the wildest 
enthusiasm, swept everything before them, and 
penetrated the city in all directions. Upton's di- 
vision, though encountering less resistance, charged 
with its habitual spirit and devotion. It is said that 
the men, finding it too difficult to break down or 
pry away the sharp-pointed stockade in front of the 
earthworks, those behind, coming on swiftly, jumped 
on the shoulders of the foremost and leaped the ob- 
structions, thus storming the works by a game of 
" leap-frog." 

The garrison fought with great coolness and 
skill. Forrest was reported to have been engaged 
personally in two or three romantic combats, and 
he, with Generals Armstrong, Roddy, Adams, and 
a number of men, escaped under cover of darkness 
by the Burnsville or river road. A portion of Up- 
ton's division pursued on the Burnsville road until 
long after midnight, capturing four guns and many 
prisoners. The immediate fruit of the victory was 
thirty-one field guns and one thirty-pound Parrott, 
twenty-seven hundred prisoners, including one hun- 
dred and fifty officers, a number of colors, three 
thousand horses, and a large quantity of stores of 
every kind. 

As soon as the troops could be assembled and 
got into camp. General Winslow was assigned to 
the command of the city, with orders to destroy 
everything that could benefit the Confederate cause. 



158 Emory Upton. 

In the excitement of the hour some acts of plunder 
and vandalism were perhaps committed, but order 
was soon restored by an active provost guard. 

General Upton was directed to march at day- 
light the next morning with his division for the pur- 
pose of driving Chalmers west of the Cahavvba, to 
open communication with McCook, who was ex- 
pected from Centreville, and to assist him in bring- 
ing in the train. On the 5th, McCook and Upton 
arrived with the train, but nothing definite had been 
heard of Croxton. 

On April 6th, Wilson, having ordered his engi- 
neer officer to lay the bridge, which had been pre- 
paring, over the Alabama River, with the utmost 
dispatch, went to Cahawba to see Forrest, who had 
agreed to meet him there under a flag of truce to 
arrange an exchange of prisoners. Wilson soon dis- 
covered that he need not expect liberality in the 
matter, and that Forrest hoped to recapture the 
prisoners in his hands. During the conversation 
Wilson learned from Forrest that Croxton had had 
an engagement with Wirt Adams near Bridgeville, 
forty miles southwest of Tuscaloosa, two days be- 
fore. This assured Wilson of Croxton's success and 
safety, and he determined to lose no time in cross- 
ing to the south side of the Alabama. Returning to 
Selma, he urged every one to the utmost exertions. 
The river was quite full and rising, its current swift, 
strong, and full of floating drift-wood. The weather 
was also unsettled and rainy, but by great labor 
night and day the bridge, eight hundred and seventy 
feet long, was completed. During the night it was 
lighted by the blaze of burning buildings, and the 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 159 

command had all crossed by daylight of the loth. 
Behind them, in the destroyed arsenal, foundries, 
arms, stores, and military munitions of every kind, 
the national troops had left immense ruin. They 
had struck the Confederacy a disastrous blow. 

In determining his future course from Selma, 
Wilson had carefully considered all the influencing 
circumstances. He consulted Upton freely and 
fully, and had his concurrence and approval in the 
plan of operations adopted. Generals Grant and 
Thomas had given him discretionary powers and a 
roving commission. Two routes lay open before 
him : one, to proceed to Mobile and assist Canby ; the 
other, to march east and unite his forces with those of 
Sherman. He chose the latter, for he rightly con- 
jectured that Mobile itself would soon fall, almost 
before he could reach that place, and he could be of 
no particular advantage to Canby. The great sup- 
ply depot for the use of the besieged having been 
destroyed, and the heart of the State being in his 
possession, the fall of Mobile was a question of a 
few days at the farthest, for he knew from the Con- 
federate papers of the close investment of the de- 
fenses, and his cavalry command would scarcely be 
of any more advantage to Canby than the division 
already there. Subsequent results confirmed the 
wisdom of his decision, for Spanish Fort was evacu- 
ated on April 8th, Blakely was carried by assault 
on the 9th, and Mobile fell on the 13th. 

He therefore put his corps in motion for Mont- 
gomery, with LaGrange's brigade, of McCook's di- 
vision, in the advance. Skirmishing with some Ala- 
bama cavalry, the next day's march brought the 



/I 



i6o Emory Upton. 

command to the beautiful town of Lownesboro. The 
next day McCook's division entered Montgomery 
without resistance, and the troops were gladdened 
with the sight of the United States flag frying from 
the dome of the Capitol, where the Confederate flag 
had been raised four years before. 

The remainder of the campaign is given with 
sufficient detail for our purpose in Upton's report 
of the operations of his division, which is here in- 
serted in full as a typical document, showing per- 
sonal modesty, unstinted liberality to his associate 
and subordinate commanders, and praise to his 
worthy troopers. 

Headquarters Fourth Division Cavalry Corps, 
Military Division of the Mississippi, May, 1S65. 

Major 'E. B. ^E^^JUO'iiT, Assistant Adjutant-General, 

Cavalry Corps, M. D. M. 

I have the honor to submit the following report 
of the operations of the Fourth Cavalry Division 
during the late campaign : 

To avoid delay in leaving Chickasaw, the train 
was sent on the 19th of March to Cherokee Station, 
on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and was 
followed by the First Brigade, commanded by 
brevet Brigadier-General Winslow on the 21st. 

The general movement commenced on the 22d 
of March ; Winslow's brigade and train camping 
near Throckmorton's Mill ; the Second Brigade, 
commanded by brevet Brigadier-General Alexan- 
der, camping on Cave Creek, twenty-five miles from 
Chickasaw. 

March 2jd. — Left Russellville to our right, and 



Division Commander of Cavalry. i6i 

camped at Newbury, distance thirty miles. Found 
plenty of corn and provisions. 

MarcJi 2ph. — March resumed, General Alexander 
moving from Mount Hope via Houston toward 
Clear Creek Falls, General Winslow and train via 
Kinlock, and Hubbard's Mill on head - waters of 
Sipsey. The road was exceedingly mountainous, 
and forage scarce. First Brigade made sixteen 
miles. 

March 2§th. — Brigades united and camped at 
Clear Creek Falls, distance thirty miles. Country 
almost destitute of forage. 

March 26th. — Winslow was directed to move via 
Bartonville and Hanly's Mill toward Elyton ; Alex- 
ander and train via Jasper and Democrat. Wins- 
low, finding the Sipsey River unfordable, moved 
down the Black Warrior to Sanders's Ferry, where 
the division camped for the night — distance twenty- 
three miles ; forage found below Sanders's Ferry. 

March 2jth. — Crossed Black Warrior over an 
extremely dangerous ford. Alexander's brigade 
camped on the east bank of Locust Ford. Wins- 
low's brigade marched all night and arrived on 
west bank at 4 A. M. next day ; distance fifteen 
miles. Provisions and forage scarce. 

March 28th. — Marched at 10 A. M. ; Alexander's 
brigade camping at Elyton, Winslow's on Hawkins's 
plantation, two miles west ; distance twenty miles. 
The road was exceedingly rough. At the end of 
the day's march we debouched into a beautiful val- 
ley, rich in provisions and forage. 

Patterson's regiment from Northern Alabama 
passed through Elyton, just before the arrival of 



1 62 Emory Upton. 

the division, its rear-guard being driven out by 
General Alexander's advance. 

By direction of the brevet major-general com- 
manding the corps, the train remained at Elyton till 
the arrival of the corps train. 

March 2gt}i. — The division moved at 10.30 A. M., 
with a view to secure a crossing over the Cahawba 
River that night ; but the ford having been ob- 
structed by Patterson's regiment, and a heavy rain 
setting in, which soon raised the river, prevented 
more than one regiment getting across ; distance 
fifteen miles. The Mcllvaine and Rich Mountain 
Iron-Works were destroyed near Elyton. 

March joth. — General Winslow converted the 
railroad-bridge over the Cahawba into a foot-bridge, 
and at 9.30 A. M. the crossing commenced. The 
division camped at Montevallo ; distance, seventeen 
miles. Roads were bad ; forage and provisions 
found in abundance around Montevallo. A colliery 
and the Central Iron-Works were destroyed near 
the Cahawba, while detachments sent out from 
Montevallo destroyed the Columbiana and Bibb 
Iron- Works. 

There being strong indications of the enemy's 
presence in large force, the division awaited the 
arrival of the corps. 

March jist. — The brevet major-general com- 
manding the corps having arrived, I was directed 
to move out at 1.30 P. M. About two miles south of 
the town the advance of Roddy's division was en- 
countered. It was immediately charged by Gen- 
eral Alexander, and driven back in great confusion 
upon their main position beyond a difficult creek, 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 163 

abandoning arms and accoutrements at every step. 
Dispositions were at once made to turn the enemy's 
right, while Rodney's Battery I, Fourth United 
States Artillery, was placed in position and opened 
fire. After some skirmishing, without awaiting a 
trial of arms, the enemy withdrew. 

General Winslow now took up the pursuit, and 
by a series of brilliant and impetuous charges drove 
the enemy until late in the night, capturing many 
prisoners, arms, and accoutrements. The division, 
elated with having ridden down the enemy in every 
conflict during the day, camped three miles north 
of Randolph, having made fourteen miles. 

April 1st. — The pursuit was resumed as far as 
Randolph, where, pursuant to your instructions, the 
division took the road to the left, leading to Old 
Maplesville, leaving the main Selma road, along 
which the enemy retired, for General Long's divis- 
ion. To cover the movement, the advance-guard 
was directed to pursue the enemy a mile and a half, 
and then remain till relieved by General Long's 
division. Proceeding about four miles to the left 
of Randolph, my command took a road to the right, 
leading through Maplesville Station, and intersect- 
ing the main Selma road at Ebenezer Church. 

Anticipating an opportunity to flank the enemy 
at this point, the march of the division was hastened, 
and at 4 P. M. he was found in position, his force, 
commanded by General Forrest in person, consist- 
ing of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, his right 
resting on Mulberry Creek, and his left on a high 
wooded ridge near Bogler's Creek. General Alex- 
ander threw his brigade into action, dismounted 



// 



164 Emory Upton. 

with great celerity, and, after a stubborn fight of 
an hour's duration, routed the enemy and captured 
his guns. General Winslow took up the pursuit 
with his brigade mounted, captured three hundred 
prisoners and drove the enemy through Planters- 
ville, nineteen miles from Selma, when the division 
camped for the night, having made twenty miles. 

April 2d. — The division marched at 10 A. M. for 
Selma, following the Second Division, arriving in 
front of the fortifications on the Plantersville road 
at 4 P. M. It was being placed in position, prepara- 
tory to a night attack on the enemy's right, when 
Long's division carried the work in its front. The 
division was immediately ordered forward, the 
skirmish-line driving the enemy from the works in 
its front, and capturing five pieces of artillery. 
General Winslow brought forward the Fourth 
Iowa at a gallop, and, charging into the city in 
various directions, captured several pieces of artil- 
lery and several hundred prisoners. The Seventh 
Ohio Cavalry was sent out on the Burnsville road, 
and captured four guns, one hundred and twenty- 
five prisoners, and many small-arms. 

April jd. — The division moved out from Selma 
with instructions to pursue the remnants of For- 
rest's command across the Cahawba River, and to 
meet and escort the general train to the city. It 
returned on the 6th, having made a circuit of ninety 
miles. 

April 8th. — At 9 P. M. the division commenced 
crossing the Alabama River on a ponton-bridge. 
The passage was soon interrupted by the descent 
of drift-wood, which carried the bridge away. The 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 165 

bridge was repaired at about 2 p. M. on the 9th, and 
the crossing was resumed, but was again interrupted 
by descending drift-wood. The breach was repaired 
by 6 p. M., and at 9 P. M. the division was across and 
encamped on the south bank. General Alexander 
narrowly escaped with his life while endeavoring 
to pass a heavy log safely under the bridge. 

April lotJi. — Marched for Montgomery, and en- 
camped at Church Hill ; distance, twenty-four miles. 
Plenty of forage. 

April JitJi. — Marched at 5.30 A. M. ; crossed Big 
Swamp or Big Swamp Creek, and camped at Colo- 
nel Harrison's, four miles east of Lownesboro ; dis- 
tance, twelve miles. 

April i2th. — Marched at 5.30 a.m.; passed through 
Montgomery at 4 o'clock p. m., and camped four 
miles east on Columbus road ; distance, twenty- 
seven miles. 

LaGrange's brigade, of McCook's division, hav- 
ing been placed under my command, I received 
orders on the 14th to march to the Chattahoochee 
to secure the bridge over that river, either at Co- 
lumbus or West Point, thereby opening for the cav- 
alry corps the road into Georgia. In pursuance of 
these instructions, I sent LaGrange's brigade, via 
Tuskegee and Opelika, to West Point, where he 
arrived on the i6th. He immediately attacked the 
garrison at that place, capturing it and securing the 
bridge. My own division marched directly on 
Columbus, eighty miles distant. 

Columbus is a fortified city of twelve thousand 
inhabitants, situated on the east bank of the Chatta- 
hoochee. Three bridges span the river at this point : 



1 66 Emory Upton. 

one a foot-bridge at the lower end of the city ; the 
others, a foot and a railroad bridge, are three-fourths 
of a mile above, opposite the upper end of the city. 
There is a fourth bridge at Clapp's Factory, three 
miles above, which was destroyed upon the ap- 
proach of Captain Young, of the Tenth Missouri, 
who was sent to secure it. 

On the west bank of the river, between the upper 
and lower bridges, lies the small town of Girard. 
Mill Creek, which flows through an open valley 
about a mile in width, separating two prominent 
ridges, which approach the river perpendicularly, 
and overlook the city, empties into the river near 
the center of Girard. The lower bridge was de- 
fended from the east bank by a rifle-pit, with three 
pieces of artillery sweeping it. The upper foot 
and railroad bridges were defended by a tcte-de-pont 
consisting of two redoubts connected by a range of 
rifle-pits about three quarters of a mile in length, 
extending across the upper ridge, well strengthened 
by felled timber in front. The lower redoubt, situ- 
ated just below the upper ridge, contained six and 
twelve pounder howitzers. Four and ten pounder 
Parrott guns were in position on its right. These 
guns completely swept Mill Creek Valley. The 
upper redoubt contained four guns commanding 
the Summerfield road. 

Five guns swept the railroad and two eight-inch 
howitzers the upper foot-bridge, making in all twen- 
ty-four guns in position. 

The works were held by about twenty-seven 
hundred infantry. The division, moving along the 
lower Crawford road, arrived opposite the lower 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 167 

bridge at about 2 P. M. Colonel Eggleston, com- 
manding the advance-guard, immediately charged 
to secure it, but was received with a heavy fire of 
artillery and musketry, while the bridge, previously 
prepared with combustible material, was at the 
same time fired. He therefore retired behind the 
ridge. Rodney's battery fired a few shots, which 
developed the position of the enemy's artillery. 

It being impossible to attack the tete-de-pont from 
this direction, Alexander's brigade was placed in 
position along the crest of the lower ridge, while 
Winslow's brigade, making a wide dctoitr, was sent, 
under cover, across to the Summerfield road on the 
upper ridge. 

His brigade was preceded by two companies of 
the Fifth Iowa Cavalry, under Captain Lewis, who 
drove in the opposing picket and charged gallantly 
upon a strong line of works which, in the darkness, 
appeared to be the enemy's main position. General 
Winslow at once disposed his command for the at- 
tack, the plan of which was, to penetrate the works 
with dismounted men, and then to send a mounted 
force through the breach, with directions to charge 
directly upon the bridge. 

The assault was made about 9 P. M., under cover 
of darkness, by six companies of the Third Iowa 
Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Noble. The first 
line of works was soon carried, and, being mis- 
taken for the main line, two companies of the Tenth 
Missouri were ordered to char2:e the bridsfe. These 
companies, supposed by the enemy to be their own 
men, passed through the works on the Summerfield 
road unharmed, charged and secured the bridge, 



1 68 Emory Upton. 

capturing many prisoners. Captain McGlasson, 
finding iiimself in the enemy's rear and vastly out- 
numbered, rejoined his regiment. 

In the mean time the main hne opened fire upon 
the right with grape and musketry. The Third 
Iowa pressed forward through a slashing a hundred 
yards deep, and, after a charge unexampled in cav- 
alry service, and with but few parallels in infantry, 
crowned the works. 

General Winslow promptly followed up the suc- 
cess. Ignoring the redoubt on the right, which still 
continued its fire, the Fourth Iowa, dismounted, un- 
der Captain Abraham, passed through the breach, 
turned to the right, charged the redoubt, captured 
ten guns, and then, sweeping across the bridge with 
the flying rebels, captured two howitzers, loaded 
with grape and canister, at the opposite end. 

Mounted companies from the same regiment fol- 
lowed in rear of Captain Abraham, and, after cross- 
ing the bridge, turned to the right and charged in 
flank the works at the lower bridge, capturing pris- 
oners and the three guns at that point. 

By 10 p. M., Columbus, with its vast munitions 
of war, fifteen hundred prisoners, and twenty-four 
guns, was in our hands. This victory, which was 
the closing conflict of the war, was achieved with 
the loss of but thirty men killed and wounded. 

April 1 8th, at 8.30 A. M., the division marched 
for Macon, via Double Bridge and Thomaston, ar- 
riving and going into camp at East Macon on the 
evening of the 21st. The march was through a rich 
country, and the distance was ninety-eight miles. 
Here, official information of the armistice between 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 169 

Generals Sherman and Johnston having been re- 
ceived, the campaign closed. 

The conduct of the officers and men during the 
campaign is deserving of the highest commenda- 
tion. Whether mounted or dismounted, but one 
spirit prevailed, and that was to run over the ene- 
my wherever found or whatever might be his num- 
bers. Nothing but the impetuosity of the charges, 
whereby the enemy was not given time to defend 
himself, can account for the small list of casualties, 
amounting in all to ninety-eight killed and wound- 
ed. In every conflict the troops actually engaged 
were vastly outnumbered. 

At Ebenezer Church, General Alexander routed 
Forrest's command with less than one thousand men, 
while General Winslow carried the formidable 
works at Columbus with but eleven hundred men. 
From the members of my staff — Brevet-Major James 
W. Latta, Assistant Adjutant-General ; Captain Tom 
C. Gilpin, acting Aide-de-camp ; Lieutenant Sloan 
Keck, acting Aide-de-camp ; Lieutenant Peter Keck, 
Ordnance Officer — I received, on all occasions, 
prompt and gallant assistance. 

The division arrived at Macon in good fighting 
condition. 

I respectfully refer you to the accompanying re- 
ports of the brigade commanders, in which the 
charges of the regiments under their commands are 
minutely described, also mentioning the names of 
officers and men distinguishing themselves for gal- 
lantry and soldierly conduct. 

In conclusion, I desire to ascribe the success of 
the division, in the first degree to the zeal, energy, 
8 



170 Emory Upton. 

and ability displayed by Generals Winslovv and 
Alexander, commanding- First and Second Bri- 
gades. They have shown in every battle great 
skill and gallantry, and possess, in an eminent de- 
gree, all the qualities of cavalry officers. I respect- 
fully urge their immediate promotion for the good 
of the service. Inclosed is a list of officers and 
men who have distinguished themselves and are en- 
titled to promotion. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
E. Upton, 
Brevet Major-Gcncral Commanding Fourth Division, 

In the brief campaign which we have described, 
Upton's success as a cavalry officer had been so 
conspicuous that it satisfied not only his corps com- 
mander but himself. In his enthusiasm over the 
capture of Columbus, under cover of darkness, he 
frequently remarked that he had just learned one of 
the greatest possibilities of war, and did not doubt 
that he could go anywhere in the Confederacy, and 
do anything which might be required of his divis- 
ion. It gave him a practical lesson in regard to 
the relative proportions and power of the three 
arms in the make-up of an army, which he could 
never have had without the experience of this cam- 
paign. 

A brief reference to Croxton's operations will 
serve to complete the story of this campaign. 

Croxton's brigade, of McCook's division, con- 
sisted of the Second Michigan Cavalry, the Fourth 
Kentucky Mounted Infantry, the Sixth Kentucky 
Cavalry, and the Eighth Iowa Cavalry, fifteen hun- 



Divisi07i Commander of Cavalry. 171 

dred effective in all. He took no artillery nor train, 
save one headquarters baggage-wagon, three am- 
bulances, and the allowance of pack-mules. Each 
trooper had one hundred and twenty rounds of am- 
munition, and was armed with the Spencer carbine. 
After the capture of Tuscaloosa, knowing that Jack- 
son and Chalmers were between him and Selma, he 
thought it too hazardous to reach that place via 
Centreville. He therefore decided to move toward 
Eutaw, in the hope of crossing the Black Warrior 
lower down, and cutting the railroad between Selma 
and Demopolis. 

On the 5th of April he recrossed the Black War- 
rior, burned the bridge, marched out on the Colum- 
bus (Mississippi) road, and on the 6th turned toward 
Eutaw. The same morning General Wirt Adams, 
with fifteen hundred men, left Pickensville at seven 
o'clock, intending to join Forrest t-z^ Finche's Ferry. 
Croxton at that time thought his force was larger. 

About 2 P. M. Adams's men began to annoy the 
rear of Croxton's brigade, near Pleasant Ridge. 
Meantime Croxton had recrossed the Sipsey River 
and turned on the military road toward Tuscaloosa. 
About 5 P. M. Adams charged the rear of Croxton 
with much vigor, and captured or disabled about a 
third of the Sixth Kentucky Cavalry. The Second 
Michigan formed line, and, by a series of successful 
volleys, succeeded in saving the rest of the Ken- 
tucky regiment, and completely held the advancing 
enemy in check, and caused, at dark, their with- 
drawal with considerable loss. After accomplishing 
this, this gallant regiment marched on and overtook 
the rest of the brigade in camp at twelve o'clock. 



172 Emory Upton. 

On the 7th, Croxton went into camp at North- 
port, a few miles from Tuscaloosa. His foraging 
parties and scouts on the road to Columbus misled 
Adams, who, believing Columbus to be Croxton's 
objective, turned his column in that direction and 
arrived there at i P. M. on the 8th, having marched 
forty-five miles in eleven hours. This put him sev- 
enty miles northwest of Croxton. Chalmers was 
moving toward Columbus at the same time, and ar- 
rived there on the 9th. 

On the 1 2th, Croxton, having successfully ac- 
complished the purpose of his diversion, marched 
northward, and, passing on through Jasper, re- 
crossed the West Fork of the Black Warrior at 
Hanly's Mills, marched nearly due east via Mount 
Penson and Trussville, crossed the Coosa at True's 
and Collins's Ferries, and continued on to Talladega, 
a region rich in mineral resources. On the 22d of 
April, the Eighth Iowa being in advance, he charged 
into Talladega, putting General B. H. Hill's bri- 
gade to flight. Replenishing haversacks, he pushed 
on northeastwardly on the 23d, destroying the rail- 
road and skirmishing with Hill, who was falling 
back to Jacksonville. In the region of the Blue 
Mountains, Croxton destroyed valuable iron and 
niter works, besides railroad-bridges, depots, and 
rolling-stock. 

On the 25th, Croxton moved out on the road 
leading to Newham, Georgia. The next day, while 
crossing the Chattahoochee, he heard of the fall of 
Richmond, the surrender of Lee, and the assassina- 
tion of Lincoln. He arrived, with his brigade in 
good condition, at Forsyth, Georgia, April 29th, and 



^ 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 173 

reported to General Wilson, then at Macon, Geor- 
gia. Without delay the cavalry corps was distrib- 
uted throughout Georgia and Florida to receive 
the surrender of detached commands, and within a 
few weeks most of the regiments were mustered 
out of the service. 

Upton was sent to Augusta, Georgia, and took 
possession of the United States Arsenal and other 
public property there. On this occasion, as he 
raised the United States flag on the arsenal-grounds 
(May 8, 1865), he thus addressed his command : 

" Soldiers ! Four years ago the Governor of 
Georgia, at the head of an armed force, hauled 
down the American flag at this arsenal. The Presi- 
dent of the United States called the nation to arms 
to repossess the forts and arsenals which had been 
seized. After four years of sanguinary war and 
conflict we execute the order of the great preserver 
of union and liberty, and to-day we again hoist the 
stars and stripes over the United States Arsenal at 
Augusta. Majestically, triumphantly she rises ! " 

But Peace, with her manifold blessings, had 
come. Our gallant soldiers had done their part to 
save the country from destruction. The claims of 
home and family now began to assert themselves 
with renewed strength as the days of battle re- 
ceded. And how grandly our volunteer soldiers at 
once put off the " pomp and circumstance of glori- 
ous war," to begin again the patient toil for their 
daily bread, history records to their undying honor 
and glory. 



174 Emory Upton. 

The parting of the troops from their trusted 
commanders shows depth of feehng and devotion 
possible only among men who love liberty and 
fight to maintain it. As a type of this heart-felt af- 
fection which bound them together we have this 
testimonial. 

Atlanta, May 24, 1865. 

General: In behalf of the officers and men it 
has been my high honor to command, I hereby ten- 
der to you the regrets of the Tenth Regiment of 
Cavalry, Missouri Volunteers, at the sundering of 
the ties that have bound us together during the past 
five months. 

Believe me, general, that the pleasure of laying 
down our arms and resuming the peaceful avoca- 
tions of citizens, and the bright prospect of a happy 
peace for our beloved country, alone take away any 
of the pangs caused by this separation. The march 
from Chickasaw to Macon, embracing the glorious 
fields of " Montevallo," '' Ebenezer Church," "Sel- 
ma," and " Columbus," has proved to us the kind- 
ness of your heart toward your comrades in arms, 
and the fact that you are justly entitled to the honors 
your country has conferred upon you. 

Under you my regiment has terminated a glo- 
rious term of service by a campaign unsurpassed by 
any during the wars of modern times. 

The memory of that campaign shall ever re- 
main fresh and bright in all our hearts. 

In conclusion, receive from us a farewell the 
bitter of which is sweetened by our bright pros- 
pects for the future. 



V- 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 175 

With much esteem I remain your obedient serv- 
ant, 

F. W. Benteen, Lieutenant-Colonel, 
Commanding TentJi Cavalry, Missouri Volunteers. 

Brevet Major-General E. Upton, 

Commanding Fourth Division Cavalry Corps, 
Military Division of the Mississippi. 

This sentiment of affection was mutual between 
Upton and his command, and on taking leave of his 
soldiers he issued this order: 

Headquarters Fourth Division Cavalry Corps, 
Military Division of the Mississippi, 

Edgefield, Tenn., June lo, 1865. 

General Orders No. 21. 

Before severing his connection with the com- 
mand, the brevet major-general commanding desires 
to express his high appreciation of the bravery, 
endurance, and soldierly quahties displayed by the 
officers and men of his division in the late cavalry 
campaign. Leaving Chickasaw, Alabama, on the 
22d of March as a new organization and without 
status in the cavalry corps, you in one month trav- 
ersed six hundred miles, crossed six rivers, met and 
defeated the enemy at Montevallo, Alabama, capt- 
uring one hundred prisoners ; routed Forrest, Bu- 
ford, and Roddy in their chosen position at Ebene. 
zer Church, capturing two guns and three hundred 
prisoners ; carried the works in your front at Selma, 
capturing thirteen guns, eleven hundred prisoners, 
and five battle-flags ; and finally crowned your suc- 
cesses by a night assault upon the enemy's intrench- 
ments at Columbus, Georgia, where you captured 



176 Emory Uptojt. 

fifteen hundred prisoners, twenty -four guns, eight 
battle-flags, and vast munitions of war. 

April 2 1st, you arrived at Macon, Georgia, hav- 
ing captured on your march three thousand prison- 
ers, thirty -nine pieces of artillery, and thirteen battle- 
flags. 

Whether mounted, with the saber, or dismount- 
ed, with the carbine, the brave men of the Third, 
Fourth, and Fifth Iowa, First and Seventh Ohio, and 
Tenth Missouri Cavalry, triumphed over the enemy 
in every conflict. 

With regiments led by brave colonels, and bri- 
gades commanded with consummate skill and dar- 
ing, the division in thirty days won a reputation un- 
surpassed in the service. 

Though many of you have not received the re- 
ward to which your gallantry has entitled you, you 
have, nevertheless, received the commendation of 
your superior officers, and won the admiration and 
gratitude of your countrymen. 

You will return to your homes with the proud 
consciousness of having defended the flag of your 
country in the hour of the greatest national peril, 
while, through your instrumentality, liberty and 
civilization will have advanced the greatest stride 
recorded in history. 

The best wishes of your commanding general 
will ever attend you. 

(Signed) E. Upton, 

Brevet Major-General commanding. 
(Official.) 

James W. Latta, 

Assistant Adjutant-General. 



Division Commander of Cavalry. 177 

General Wilson, his own immediate commander, 
recognized Upton's services, and expressed in the 
following letter, written almost immediately after 
the close of the campaign, his opinion of his merits : 

(Extract.) 

Headquarters Cavalry Corps, 
Military Department of the Mississippi, 
Macon, Ga., April 24, 1865. 

Brigadier-General E. D. Townsend, 

Assistant-Adjutant-Gcncral United States Army, 

General : . . . I have the honor to recommend 
the following promotion : 

Brevet Major-General Emory Upton, United 
States Volunteers, to be major-general, to date from 
April I, 1865, for personal gallantry and good man- 
agement in the engagement of Ebenezer Station, 
Alabama, also at Columbus, Georgia, where, by a 
night attack with three hundred men, he carried the 
rebel works, and captured the bridge over the Chat- 
tahoochee River, and took twelve hundred prisoners 
and fifty-two guns. 

Throughout the entire campaign General Upton 
has exhibited the highest qualities of a general offi- 
cer, and has demonstrated his fitness for advance- 
ment. 

I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient 

servant, 

James H. Wilson, 

Brevet Major-General. 

(Official.) 

E. B. Beaumont, 

Major and Assistant Adjutant-General. 



17B Emory Upton. 

The duties which now fell to Upton's lot were 
those incident to that of all general officers of this 
period of approaching peace. The main business 
was economy. The burdens of the war were enor- 
mous, and the Government was no less anxious than 
the soldiers to get again into peaceful pursuits, and 
to reduce quickly the vast daily expenses of a war 
establishment. But, of course, this required time 
for its orderly evolution, and Upton's services were 
retained in the South till the middle of August. On 
the 1st of July he was ordered to report to General 
George Stoneman, commanding the Department of 
Tennessee, and was by him assigned to the com- 
mand of the First Cavalry Division of that depart- 
ment, and on the 13th of July he was ordered to re- 
port to General A. C. Gillem, commanding the Dis- 
trict of East Tennessee, for assignment to the com- 
mand of all the cavalry of that district, with station 
at Lenoir, Tennessee. After a month's service he 
had completed the duty requiring his presence in 
this military department, and was relieved August 
15th, and ordered by War Department General Or- 
der No. 130 to report to Major-General John Pope, 
commanding the Department of the Missouri. He 
had completed his active service in the field, which, 
characterized throughout by modest, patient, and 
persistent labor in preparation, and by every mili- 
tary virtue in actual conflict, had shed no less luster 
on our arms than honor and renown upon himself. 



CHAPTER VI. 

SERVICE IN COLORADO. — TACTICS. 

The hardships and dangers of active campaign- 
ing were now happily ended, but the routine life 
of camp, varied only by a change of locality from 
time to time, was by no means as exciting as the life 
to which the troops had been accustomed. Their 
past years had been filled with the excitement of 
the march and the fever of battle, and they soon 
tired of the eiumi of camp. The war being ended, 
there was now no sufficient reason in their minds 
why they should not at once return to their homes 
and attend to their families and their private inter- 
ests. 

It was a wise policy, therefore, on the part of 
the Government to muster them out of service as 
rapidly as possible. But, although this policy was 
almost essential, for the rapid decrease in the enor- 
mous expenditure which the army entailed, other 
considerations, connected with the unsettled condi- 
tion of the Southern territory, demanded that a con- 
siderable force should yet be retained in the service 
until such new conditions of hfe should be evolved 
in the South as to insure a certain stability and be- 
come sufficiently adapted to the requirements of a 
brave but exhausted people. 

These retained troops were, therefore, distrib- 



i8o Emory Upton. 

uted throughout the Southern States in detach- 
ments of sufficient strength, and located at such 
points as were considered important for the pur- 
poses of the reconstructive measures undertaken 
by the Government. The new duties to which offi- 
cers and men were assigned were far different from 
those to which they had been accustomed, and re- 
quired of them patience and forbearance as well as 
the exercise of great discretion in the unsettled and 
sometimes turbulent region to which they were 
assisfned. To the men at least this additional serv- 
ice was a great grievance, and an ever-present 
cause of unrest. Anxiety as to the condition of 
their families, and the deferred pleasures of a re- 
turn to their homes, together with the difficulties 
attached to service in a community where the sen- 
timent was hostile, all contributed to make them 
look forward with eagerness to their honorable dis- 
charge. To the officers there were compensating 
advantages in their continued employment, since 
the pay they received was ample to provide for 
their families, and they could readily obtain short 
leaves of absence to visit their homes and make pro- 
vision for the coming day of discharge, or antici- 
pate it under favorable opportunities by resigning. 
General Upton's thoughts were still directed to 
the home of his youth. His parents, brothers, and 
sisters were still those to whom his affections most 
strongly turned. And so pure was the atmosphere 
of his home that its memories were the most potent 
of all influences which had so far kept him a noble 
man and a Christian soldier during the many vicis- 
situdes of his active career. 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. i8i 

Having completed the duty to which he was as- 
signed, he was relieved from service in Tennessee 
on the 14th of August, and ordered to report to 
Major-General Pope, commanding the Department 
of Missouri, who assigned him to the command of 
the district of Colorado, with headquarters at Den- 
ver. Making but a short delay, he proceeded over- 
land from Leavenworth to his new station, and we 
have in the following letter an account of the inci- 
dents of his journey : 

Denver, October i, 1865. 

My dear Sister: I have the pleasure of an- 
nouncing my arrival safe at my journey's end, after 
a long and somewhat weary march. We left Leav- 
enworth on the 31st of August. Our outfit con- 
sisted of one four-mule wagon, a four-mule ambu- 
lance, two saddle-horses, and two mules. My only 
traveling-companion was Major Latta, my assistant 
adjutant-general. Having tents and a larder well 
supplied, we were in as good condition as any party 
that ever crossed the plains. After four days' march 
we arrived at Fort Riley, where we laid over one 
day, and were most handsomely entertained by 
General Sanborn. The escort of four hundred 
cavalry was nearly up here, and on the 6th of 
September, all preparations being made, we set out 
via the Smoky Hill for Denver. 

On the third day we passed Fort Ellsworth, on 
the Santa Fe road, and entered the buffalo country. 
Of course, every one has to "kill his buffalo"; 
and, mounted on a good horse, I made my first 
effort, which was a failure, as was also the second ; 
but the third was a success. 



1 82 Emory Upton. 

You can scarcely imagine the excitement of a 
buffalo-chase. Mounted on a fleet horse, and armed 
with two or three revolvers, you single out a large 
herd and gallop toward it. They soon see you, and, 
taking the alarm from some old bull, follow him, 
generally running toward the wind. It is a beauti- 
ful sight to see them as they take the alarm and gal- 
lop away. With a large mane which gives them a 
terribly ferocious look, they seem to run as if on 
three legs, and you doubt not that a few seconds 
more will see you in their midst. But not so! 
After a sharp run you begin to approach them, 
your horse then takes the excitement, and, increas- 
ing his speed, closes upon them. 

With the pistol cocked, and your eye upon a 
particular one, you close to fifteen or twenty feet 
and fire. 

On they go, up steep hills and across deep ra- 
vines, the only effect of your shot being to increase 
their speed. The big bulls in the rear, apprehen- 
sive of their charge, hook up those which lag be- 
hind. With the dust in your face and your horse 
foaming, you close again and fire at the same buf- 
falo, who, finally crippled or maddened by his 
wounds, lags behind, lunges at )'ou as you ap- 
proach, and, finally exhausted, stops to give battle. 
You have now won the day, and a good shot or 
two will close the struggle. Yet often as many as 
fifteen or twenty shots have to be fired before the 
vulnerable part is struck. 

The heart is the only spot where one shot will 
kill. The skull seems to be as impenetrable as 
rock, and they will only shake the head when struck 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics, 183 

there. Their meat is very tough except the tender- 
loin, sirloin, and hump above the shoulders, which 
are quite delicate. These parts, in addition to the 
liver, heart, and tongue, are all that are used for 
meat, the remainder being left for the wolves. 

The number of buffalo is astonishing, and often 
you find yourself among herds which extend for 
miles farther than the eye can reach. 

The large gray wolf and the coyote always ac- 
company them, and subsist mainly upon their flesh. 
Their howl has a most dismal sound, and awakens 
recollections of all the wolf-stories one has ever 
read. Prairie-dogs were frequent everywhere along 
our route. They live in villages — the different holes 
communicating with each other. They are about 
twice the size of a red squirrel, and I suppose from 
their chirp or bark take their name. The owl and 
rattlesnake come into their habitations without in- 
vitation. 

Polecats were numerous on the plains, as were 
also antelope. Antelope-meat is the most delicate I 
ever tasted. The animal has short horns and a 
wonderful bump of curiosity, which often proves 
fatal to it ; for many times it will approach close to 
you to ascertain definitely what you are. Once sat- 
isfied that there is harm, it will bound over the prai- 
rie at a marvelous speed. The hare or jack-rabbit is 
a queer little animal, which every few steps takes a 
high leap into the air, making his course very eccen- 
tric. We saw one tarantula, which belongs to the 
spider family. Its legs were two or three inches long 
and its body about four times the size of the largest 
black spider. Its bite is exceedingly venomous. 



184 Emory Upton. 

The plains are not so level as the Illinois prairies. 
Gulches and ravines, with deep beds of sand on 
their bottoms, frequently intersected our path. The 
Smoky Hill was nearly always to our left. Along 
its banks were a few cottonwood-trees, which were 
always a most welcome sight. The grass on the 
plains is very short but very nutritious. Water 
occurred about every twelve or fifteen miles, but 
sometimes we had to go twenty or more. At such 
times we experienced the same feelings of joy as 
travelers in the Sahara. 

Geologically, the country was very interesting. 
The amount of denudation that has taken place was 
never more perceptible. We could frequently see 
ledges of rock on both sides of the river having the 
same elevation, while the river-bed was a hundred 
feet or more below. Evidently the immense amount 
of alluvium that it would require to fill this valley 
had been washed away, and doubtless for ages has 
been depositing in the Delta of the Mississippi. You 
have but to see the work Nature has done in wear- 
ing away the surface near one of the tributaries of 
the Mississippi, to readily believe the statement that 
two billion tons of detritus are annually deposited 
at the mouth of that great river. 

Fremont's Fort or Buttes is a high table-land, 
two hundred feet above the surrounding country. 
Its surface is level, immediately underlying which 
is a stratum of rock about fourteen feet thick. Be- 
low this is a compact clay, I think (I did not have 
time to visit it). Time has worn the surrounding 
country away, but this table remains, to show where 
once was the original surface. 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 185 

About the 27th of September we came in sight 
of Pike's Peak. It is a lofty monarch, with no as- 
sociate to dispute its pre-eminence. Long's Peak 
came into view two days later, but, springing from 
the main chain, upon approach does not appear so 
high, although it is a few hundred feet higher. 

On the 29th we got the first fine view of the 
mountains. I will not attempt to describe the beau- 
ty or sublimity of the scene, but will simply state 
that we stood on a high divide. Below was a beau- 
tiful table-land, extending to the base of the mount- 
ain ; to our left was Pike's Peak, over thirteen thou- 
sand feet high ; to our right was Long's Peak, with 
still greater altitude. Connecting them, a distance 
of nearly sixty miles, was a lofty range, its crest be- 
ing nearly horizontal, but varied occasionally by 
bold and rugged summits, often a thousand feet or 
more above the range to the right of Long's Peak, 
and, extending as far 'as the eye could reach, ap- 
peared the lofty peaks of the Snowy Range. Three 
hundred feet below us lay the valley of Cherry 
Creek, which winds its way to the Platte, its course 
being visible by the trees that line its banks. 

Add to this the fact that the sun had but just 
risen, and I will leave to your imagination to sup- 
ply the picture. I never saw beauty and sublimity 
so magnificently blended, and felt that that one 
scene would more than compensate a year's toil and 
privation. 

We arrived at Denver on the evening of the 
29th. It lies at the mouth of Cherry Creek, and, 
though but six years old, has a population of four 
thousand. The people of the Territory are, of 



1 86 Emory Upton, 

course, not so polished as Eastern people, but I 
have met many nice gentlemen. Prices are enor- 
mously high. Board at hotels is one hundred and 
thirty-five dollars per month, and other things in 
proportion. 1 shall soon go over my district on an 
inspection tour, and will have a fine opportunity to 
see the scenery, which I am satisfied rivals any in 
the world. I will write anything that may be of 
interest. 

During his service in Colorado Upton made fre- 
quent inspections of his command, and, as was his 
custom, learned all that he could in regard to mat- 
ters going on about him. The mining interests 
were, of course, all-absorbing to the people of Den- 
ver and its vicinity, and he neglected no opportu- 
nity of watching the development of the methods 
of mining and reducing the ore containing the pre- 
cious metals. He foresaw that great changes would 
be brought about by the building of the Pacific Rail- 
road, and that its completion would give a marked 
impetus to all branches of industry. To famiharize 
himself with the conduct of affairs in his military 
district and with the country, he visited Fort Hal- 
leck, from which he returned in October, and after- 
ward made a trip to the mountain-region west of Den- 
ver. He thoroughly examined the mineral region 
of Black Hawk, Central City, and Empire, and thus 
added greatly to his store of useful knowledge. On 
his return from his first expedition he sent the follow- 
ing letter to his superior military authority, wherein 
he exhibits the indignation of an honest man at the 
evidences of rascality that came under his notice : 



* Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 187 

Headquarters District of Colorado, 
Denver, Colorado, October 14, 1865. 

My dear General: I beg leave to write you 
privately and unofficially in regard to my position 
as commanding officer of this district. In sending 
me out here you informed me that there were many 
abuses which you expected me to correct, and I was 
specially enjoined to retrench in every possible man- 
ner the expenses of the Government. As an officer 
I felt complimented by the trust you reposed in me, 
and I came out with the earnest desire to carry out, 
in the most minute particulars, your orders and 
wishes in regard to the expenditures of the Gov- 
ernment. As an officer, I have always acted on the 
principle that there was but one course to pursue, 
and that was the straight line of duty. I was edu- 
cated to believe that a public dollar was as sacred 
as a private one, and, to the extent that I am, or may 
be, its custodian, I will ever be faithful to my trust. 

1 find myself surrounded by a set of unscrupu- 
lous contractors and speculators, who regard the 
public money as their legitimate plunder. I will 
defeat their villainous schemes to the utmost, be the 
consequences to me what they may. I expect, in 
the fearless discharge of my official duties, to call 
down upon my head the venom of the entire class ; 
and, as they have heretofore been all-powerful 
through the money they have stolen from the Gov- 
ernment, I would not at any time be surprised were 
they to secure my removal. I therefore write you, 
general, to acquaint you with the situation. All 
that I ask is to be supported by my superior offi- 
cers, and if, by the faithful discharge of my duties, 



1 88 Emory Upton. 

I secure their commendation, I shall care nothing 
for the abuse or vituperation of a horde of defeated 
speculators. I have just returned from an inspec- 
tion of Fort Halleck and Camp Wardwell, and will 
immediately forward official report. 

I trust you will not consider that I have tran- 
scended the bounds of official propriety in address- 
ing this communication. 

During Upton's sojourn in Colorado, the reduc- 
tion and reorganization of the army were engaging 
the attention of the Washington authorities. He 
knew that a very short service would soon terminate 
his career as a general officer of volunteers, and that 
he would then return to his lineal rank as a captain 
of artillery in the regular army. 

He hoped, however, that in the reorganization 
he would be offered higher rank in one of the new 
regiments than his present lineal rank of captain, 
and he had assurances from distinguished officers, 
whose influence would have great weight, that his 
claims and services would not be overlooked. Nev- 
ertheless, being far distant from the seat of govern- 
ment, he well knew that there would be great press- 
ure and strong influence brought to bear to advance 
the claims of other distinguished officers, and he 
therefore awaited the result with some anxiety. 
This anxiety would have been the less readily borne 
had not other matters pressed upon him and occu- 
pied every moment of his leisure time. 

His profession was a continual study and em- 
ployment for him. He loved it and devoted all his 
thoughts to it. While the war was in progress, he 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 189 

omitted no opportunity to study the details that are 
so often accepted unquestioned by ordinary men. 
Being- eminently practical, and full of enthusiasm, 
he never hesitated to examine into the merits of the 
accepted practices of military movements and drill. 
Without being an iconoclast, he had no special rev- 
erence for established usages, simply because they 
had the authority of age. He preferred rather to 
test all things by the standard of utility, and in this 
spirit his mind was early directed to investigate the 
subject of the tactics for infantry troops. He came 
to the conclusion that the tactics in vogue were ca- 
pable of great improvement, and, having frequent 
opportunities of testing the matter in the field, his 
opinions became strengthened and to himself con- 
clusive. 

In the spring of 1864 Upton began to formulate 
his ideas; and, having convinced himself that he 
had good grounds for the prosecution of his labors, 
he exhibited a practical illustration of his method for 
the evolutions of a regiment, by applying it to a bat- 
talion of the Second Connecticut Volunteer Artil- 
lery, in the presence of some distinguished general 
officers, a few days before the battle of Winchester. 
The success attending this trial, and the encourage- 
ment of those witnessing it, gave him the support 
he needed and heart enough to continue its devel- 
opment. Upon recovering from the wound he re- 
ceived at the battle of Winchester he sought serv- 
ice in the cavalry, in order to make himself familiar 
with this arm of the service ; and the active cam- 
paign of Selma, in which the cavalry, armed with 
the Spencer carbine, acted mostly as mounted in- 



IQO Emory Upton. 

fantry, was of the greatest value to him in this im- 
portant field of professional study. Tactics became 
the theme of his daily conversation, engrossed his 
mind almost to the exclusion of everything else, 
and he drew from every battle-field its important 
lesson. 

We have before remarked that he possessed, in 
a remarkable degree, the conp-d'ceil militaire, by 
which the general features of the ground over 
which his troops were operating were impressed 
on his mind. This enabled him to foresee, in a 
measure, the possibilities of a battle, and to deter- 
mine the probable movements of bodies of troops 
from one position to another. He imagined how 
this might best be done, taking into consideration 
the important element of time, and thus the proba- 
ble and possible changes whereby the point of at- 
tack might be modified. This led him to consider 
the tactical movements by which these changes 
could be effected in the best manner and with the 
least confusion. 

The authorized infantry tactics which were in 
use during the war were those of General Casey. 
They were based on the French tactics of 1831 and 
1845, which had served also as the model of the 
tactics of General Scott and of Colonel Hardee, 
which preceded those of General Casey. This offi- 
cer, in submitting his revision to the War Depart- 
ment, states : " Most undoubtedly there are still im- 
provements to be made ; but if the system here set 
forth shall in any manner cause our armies to act 
with more efficiency on the field of battle, and thus 
subserve the cause of our beloved country in this 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 191 

her hour of trial, my most heart-felt wishes will have 
been attained." 

His system was used during the war. " Its mer- 
its and demerits had been subjected to the test of 
practice and experience," and Upton believed that 
there were sufficient reasons for a revision of the 
system. From the summer of 1864 until early in 
1866 he studied this important subject in its theory 
and practice, and, having brought his labor to the 
point where he could present a new system to the 
military authorities for their approval or condemna- 
tion, he, addressed the following letter to the Adju- 
tant-General of the Army : 

Headquarters District of Colorado, January 13, 1866. 

Brigadier-General E. D. Townsend, 

Assistant Adjutant-General United States Army. 

Sir : I have the honor to request to be ordered 
to Washington, for the purpose of submitting to the 
Honorable Secretary of War, or to a Board of Gen- 
eral Officers, to be convened by him, a new system 
of infantry tactics, with a view to its adoption for 
the infantry of the United States Army and the mili- 
tia throughout the United States. 

The system differs fundamentally from the old 
or French system, now in use, the unit being a front 
of four men. It is believed to be superior to the 
old system : 

First. In abolishing the facings, and substituting 
wheeling by fours, hereby forming a column of 
fours, which you are enabled to form directly to the 
right, to the left, to the front, and, by wheeling 



192 Emory Upton. 

about to the rear, into line, presenting always the 
front rank to the enemy. 

Second. It takes no cognizance of inversions, 
and enables a battalion or brigade commander to 
form line in any direction with the utmost facility 
and ease. 

Third. The number of commands has been re- 
duced, and there is greater uniformity among them. 

Fourth. It is more simple and less voluminous. 

The system when presented will embrace the 
school of the soldier, the school of the company, 
instructions for skirmishers, the school of the bat- 
talion, evolutions of the brigade, and corps d'arme'e, 
and an appendix embracing evolutions of a battahon 
and brigade in single rank. 

The feats of dismounted cavalry, armed with the 
Spencer carbine, in both the East and West, have 
demonstrated the fact that one rank of men so 
armed is nearly, if not quite, equal in offensive or 
defensive power to two ranks armed with the 
Springfield musket. If this be admitted, a one-rank 
tactics becomes necessary for a certain proportion 
of troops, especially those designed to turn or oper- 
ate on the enemy's flank. 

The principle of fours enables troops to be 
brought on to the field in two ranks ; to be expanded 
into a single rank by a simple command ; and often 
to be manoeuvred by the same commands as in two 
ranks. 

This can not be done by the old tactics without 
an entire change of commands, 

I would state that three days before the battle 
of Winchester, in the presence of Brigadier-General 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 193 

D. A. Russell and other officers, I applied the prin- 
ciple of fours to a battalion of the Second Connecti- 
cut Heavy Artillery with complete success ; and I 
have every confidence that were a Board of Officers 
to be convened at West Point, New York, I could, 
by a single application of the principle to the bat- 
talion of cadets, fully establish, to the satisfaction of 
the Board, the superiority above claimed. 

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Emory Upton, 
Brevet Major-General, United States Volunteers. 

While at Denver, attending to his duties as dis- 
trict commander, Upton had found time to perform 
all the necessary labor incident to this construction 
of his system, and, on February i ith, he writes to his 
sister: " My tactics being finished, I have had quite 
a play-spell for the past week. I am now looking 
forward to the adoption of the tactics by the War 
Department, and, if successful, shall feel that I have 
established a solid reputation." But he soon found 
that his work was by no means completed, for on 
the 6th of April he again writes : " I have been ex- 
tremely busy for the last six weeks, and it will no 
doubt surprise you when I tell you my tactics are 
not yet finished. The manuscript was completed 
some time since, but the plates, which I supposed 
could be easily drawn, have occupied much more 
time than I anticipated. My knowledge of the rule 
and triangle has again been brought into requisition, 
and I feel quite like a student. It will require two 
or three weeks yet to complete the work, and have 
it in every sense ready for examination and publi- 
9 



194 Emory Upton. 

cation. I shall then be ready to go East. Should 
the work not be adopted, I shall have it published, 
but I have no misgiving, as the principle is new and 
entitled to consideration. Were my tactics but a 
revision of the present system, with a few unimpor- 
tant movements added, I would not be sanguine, but 
as they aim at a complete revolution, and are far 
more simple, my confidence increases with every 
comparison I make. You need fear no evil effects 
upon me if disappointed, which I do not consider 
possible, as I have military men to deal with, who 
will adopt that system of tactics which is best for 
the army." 

On the 30th of April, 1866, Upton was mustered 
out of the volunteer service, and returned to his 
rank in the regular army as captain of the Fifth 
Regiment of Artillery, to which he had been pro- 
moted February 22, 1865. 

During the delay which he was authorized to 
take before joining his regiment, he visited his home, 
and was also permitted to come to Washington. 
While at the latter place he doubtless urged his 
views in regard to his tactics, and impressed them 
upon the authorities there with such effect as to 
secure the appointment of a Board for their consid- 
eration. Accordingly, on Jvme 5, 1866, a Board, 
consisting of Colonels H. B. Clitz and H. M. Black, 
General Griffin, and Captain Van Horn, was con- 
vened to meet at West Point, New York, " for the 
purpose of recommending such changes in author- 
ized infantry tactics as shall make them simple and 
complete, or the adoption of any new system that 
may be presented to it, if such change be deemed 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 195 

advisable. The Board will examine and report on 
any system of infantry tactics that may be presented 
to it ; and the superintendent of the Military Acad- 
emy will give it facilities for testing with the bat- 
talion of cadets the value of any system. Brevet- 
Colonel E. Upton, Fifth United States Artillery, is 
authorized to visit West Point, New York, to pre- 
sent his system to the Board." 

General Griffin was, however, relieved from this 
Board June 8th, at his own request, and General R, 
B. Ayres, Captain Fifth Artillery, was detailed in 
his stead. 

On July 1 8th General Upton was ordered to 
report to the President of the Board, and to hold 
himself in readiness to exhibit his tactics in the 
school of the battalion to the Board. 

The result of the investigations of this Board, 
together with the indorsement of General Grant 
upon its report, is given in the following papers: 

West Point, New York, January, 1867. 
To the Adjiitant-Gencral U. S. A., Washington City, 
D. C. 
General: The Board of Officers assembled at 
this place by virtue of Special Orders Nos. 264 and 
272, of June 5th and 8th, 1866, War Department, 
Adjutant-General's Office, " for the purpose of rec- 
ommending such changes in authorized infantry 
tactics as shall make them simple and complete, or 
the adoption of any new system that may be pre- 
sented to it, if such change be deemed advisable," 
has the honor to report that, after a careful trial 
and scrutiny of the different systems presented. 



196 Emory Upton. 

the Board has unanimously decided to recommend 
the adoption of Brevet Major -General Upton's 
system, a printed copy of which is herewith trans- 
mitted. 

In making- the examination, the Board suggested 
certain alterations, not affecting the general prin- 
ciples, which were readily concurred in by the au- 
thor. 

(Signed) H. B. Clitz, 

Lieutc7iant-Coloncl Sixth hifantry and Brevet Colonel, 
President of the Board. 

R. B. Ayres, 
Brevet Major-General United States Army. 

H. M. Black, 
Major Seventh Infantry and Brevet Colonel. 
J. J. Van Horn, 
Captain Eighth Infantry and Brevet Major, Recorder. 

Headquarters Armies of the United States, 

Washington, D. C, February 4, 1867. 

Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War. 

Sir : I have the honor to transmit herewith the 
report of the Board of Officers convened by Special 
Orders No. 264, War Department, Adjutant-Gen- 
eral's Office, of date June 5, 1866, ** for the purpose 
of recommending such changes in the authorized 
infantry tactics as shall make them simple and com- 
plete, or the adoption of any new system that may 
be presented to it, if such change be deemed ad- 
visable." 

Having examined this report, I concur fully with 
the Board, and recommend the immediate adoption 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 197 

of " Upton's Infantry Tactics, Double and Single 
Rank," as the text-book for the Military Academy 
and the standard tactics for the armies of the United 
States. 

I have seen the system applied to company and 
battalion drills, and am fully satisfied of its superior 
merits and adaptability to our service ; besides, it is 
no translation, but a purely American work. The 
Board by which it was examined and recommended 
was composed of officers of ability and experience, 
and I do not think any further examination by 
boards necessary. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

U. S. Grant, General. 

Notwithstanding this gratifying recommenda- 
tion of his system by the Board of June 5th, and its 
strong support by the General of the Army, oppo- 
sition to it began to develop. This opposition 
naturally caused the War Department to hesitate 
before acting as the General of the Army had rec- 
ommended, and to decide upon convening a new 
Board, composed of officers of such distinguished 
rank and ability that its recommendation would 
carry the greatest weight possible, and to which 
the views of officers opposed to the change were 
also to be submitted. Accordingly, the War Depart- 
ment issued the following order : 

War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, 

Washington, June ii, 1867. 
Special Orders, No. joo. 

A Board will assemble at West Point, New York, 
to take into consideration the system of infantry 



198 Emory Upton. 

tactics prepared by Brevet Major-General E. Up- 
ton, United States Army, and will report its opin- 
ion, whether the said tactics should be adopted as 
the system for the armies of the United States, in 
lieu of all others. The Board will be composed as 
follows : 

General U. S. Grant, United States Army ; Ma- 
jor-General G. G. Meade, United States Army ; 
Brevet Major-General E. R. S. Canby, United States 
Army ; Brevet Major-General W. F. Barry, Colonel 
Second United States Artillery ; Brevet Brigadier- 
General W. N. Grier, Colonel Third United States 
Cavalry ; Brevet Colonel H. M. Black, Major Sev- 
enth United States Infantry. 

By order of the Secretary of War : 

E. D. TOWNSEND, 

Assistant Adjutant-General. 

This Board, after witnessing practical illustra- 
tions of Upton's tactics in the principles of the 
school of the company, by a company of cadets 
and by a company of engineer troops, and in those 
of the school of the battalion, and in skirmish-drill, 
during successive days, examined General Upton 
in such theoretical movements as were suggested 
by the members of the Board, and which could not 
be practically illustrated on the field. The Board 
then carefully considered the papers presented to it 
by Generals Casey, Morris, H. J. Hunt, and T. W. 
Sherman, and the reply of General Upton to the 
latter's objections to his system. This reply was as 
follows : 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 1 99 

Washington, D. C, Aptild, 1867. 

Major George K. Leet, 

Assistant A djiitmit -General. 

Sir : The communication of Brevet Major-Gen- 
eral T. W. Sherman, Colonel Third United States 
Artillery, setting forth what he considers to be vital 
defects in my system of infantry tactics, having been 
referred to me by the General-in-Chief, I have the 
honor to submit the following remarks : 

" The root of all the objections of importance 
that appears " is found in my omission or prohibi- 
tion of manoeuvres by the rear rank. 

The chief advantage claimed for the system is 
the adoption of a front of four men as a unit, the 
men of which, both front and rear rank, preserve or 
maintain in all movements a constant relation to 
each other. 

The movement of "fours right or left about," 
whether in column or in line, places the troops 
facing in the opposite directions with the same free- 
dom to manoeuvre as before, and ivith the front rank 
in front, which, as in all armies the best soldiers are 
to be found in the front rank, is not only decidedly 
advantageous, but abolishes all necessity for ma- 
noeuvres by the rear rank, especially when not in 
the presence of the enemy. 

In the presence of the enemy, whether moving 
toward or from him. General Sherman maintains 
that the only " practicable mode " of facing, or 
marching in the opposite direction, is by the " indi- 
vidual about or the about face I' 

Two general cases can arise, viz., the troops may 
or may not be under the enemy's fire. If not un- 



200 Emory Upton. 

der fire, then the " fours right or left about " is, of 
course, practicable, and retains all the advantages 
previously mentioned. If under fire, the tactics 
prescribe that the unity of the fours will be pre- 
served as long as possible, and, as casualties occur 
in the front rank, the vacancies will be filled from 
the rear rank. 

This provision then, theoretically, preserves the 
units until fifty per cent of the men are placed hors 
de combat, and it must necessarily follow that, no 
matter how severe the fire of the enemy may be, so 
long as the men are cool, remain in their ranks, and 
are under the command of their officers, just so long is 
the " fours right or left about " equally practicable 
with the " about face " ; and further, in marching to 
the rear is preferable, inasmuch as all the men will 
be in their usual places, and the march of the line 
will be steady, whereas by the " about face " every 
man will not only be out of place, but will feel out 
of place ; the poorest soldiers and marchers will be 
in front, and the march of the fine will naturally be 
unsteady. 

In support of this latter statement, it is but neces- 
sary to refer to any one's cadet experience, when he 
will remember that, in every instance when the 
battalion was faced about, manoeuvred by the rear 
rank, not only were there crowding and unsteadi- 
ness, but that the precision of the movements never 
equaled that by the front rank. 

General Sherman's assertion that the about face 
is alone practicable under the immediate fire of the 
enemy leads me naturally to infer that it is practi- 
cable at all times and under all circumstances. The 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 201 

principal object of tactics is to prepare or to dispose 
troops for battle. Now, in every battle, as every 
infantry officer of experience well knows, there is a 
time when all consideration for tactics is lost ; it is 
when the opposing lines come within deadly range, 
and mutually engage each other with the determi- 
nation to conquer. At this time everything depends 
upon the discipline and courage of the officers, and 
as success or defeat must ensue, whichever line is 
compelled to give ground will yield it in disorder 
and confusion, and not till it is rallied can tactics 
again be applied. 

Under such circumstances, when the enemy is 
pouring in his fire at short range, not only is the 
" about face insuring the preservation of unity and 
sohdity " impracticable, but it would be criminal for 
a colonel to command and attempt to execute " cease 
firing," " battalion about face," " forward march." 

It is only under the circumstances here stated 
that the units of four can be destroyed, and, as in 
general regiments either recoil before sustaining a 
loss of fifty per cent, or else are victorious, I can 
see no weight to the objections raised. If the regi- 
ments recoil, the tactics will not be required till 
they are rallied in the rear ; if they are victorious, 
they should be reformed immediately and again 
called off, which will give new and intact units. All 
the movements by fours are simple, quick, and me- 
chanical. I have applied them to volunteer infant- 
ry and cavalry, and in the presence of the general- 
in-chief to the battalion of cadets, and never yet 
have seen any confusion or unsteadiness, even 
while teaching the principles. 



202 Emory Upton. 

General Sherman was at West Point last sum- 
mer while the Tactical Board was in session. He 
presented to me then these same objections, and 
doubtless mentioned them to the Board. I know 
that the subject was thoroughly discussed, and that 
the Board decided that there was no necessity for 
manoeuvres by the rear rank. 

The battalion of cadets was placed at the dis- 
posal of the Board, and whenever differences of 
opinion arose respecting an important principle the 
matter was settled by actual experiment. General 
Sherman states that there are other points which 
invite discussion, but, as he admits that they violate 
no important principle, he omits to remark them. 
To this it may be replied that no system of tactics 
could be elaborated, either by an individual or by 
a Board, to which some objections would not be 
found. 

After a week's careful examination and deliber- 
ation, the Board, on the 15th of July, decided upon 
the following report : 

The Board has fully considered the subject 
committed to it by the War Department's special 
order (No. 300), and, in addition to the study of the 
text, has witnessed the practical illustration of the 
most important principles involved in the new sys- 
tem of tactics. The only important omissions in its 
examination were the manual of arms in the school 
of the soldier, the formation of squares in the school 
of the battalion, and all evolutions of the line. 

The first varies, of course, with the arm, and for 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 203 

the same arm must, of course, be the same in all 
branches of the service ; in the second (formation of 
squares), the principles are the same as in existing 
systems ; and the third (the evolutions of the line) 
could not be practically illustrated by reason of the 
small number of troops present. 

The general advantages of the new system are : 

1. Its easy application to all the arms of the 
service, leaving nothing additional to any special 
branch, except the manual of the arm with which 
it fights, the adaptation of the words of command, 
the training of animals, and the management and 
care of the material with which it is equipped. 

2. The readiness with which the principles 
may be acquired by new troops, abbreviating ma- 
terially the time required to fit them for the field, 
and practically extending the effective term of serv- 
ice of the soldier. This is of great importance in 
its relation to the volunteer force, of which, in all 
great wars, our armies must be largely composed. 

The special advantages are : 

That it dispenses with the manoeuvres by the 
rear rank, by inversion, and the countermarch, and 
substitutes therefor rapid and simple conversion of 
front, and changes from column into line. 

That it increases the number of modes of pass- 
ing from the order in column to the order in line, 
facing in any direction ; diminishes the time re- 
quired for these changes, and preserves always the 
front rank in front ; advantages of vital importance 
in the presence and under the fire of the enemy. 

That it provides for all column movements re- 
quired in an open country, and, by the column in 



204 Emory Upton. 

fours, for the movements necessary in narrow roads, 
wooded or obstructed countries, without the exten- 
sion incident to ordinary movements by the flank. 

That it provides for a single-rank formation 
specially adapted to the use of breech-loaders. 

That it provides for a system of skirmishing 
from double or single rank superior for offense or 
defense to any existing system. 

The Board therefore recommends that the sys- 
tem of infantry tactics prepared by Brevet Major- 
General E. Upton, United States Army, be adopted 
as the system for the armies of the United States in 
the place of all others, and that, so soon as a sufficient 
time shall have elapsed for the correction of any 
errors of arrangement or detail, Boards for the 
special arms may be appointed for the purpose of 
adapting the tactics of their arms to the system now 
recommended. 

U. S. Grant, General. 

George G. Meade, 

Major-General, United States Army. 

Edward R. S. Canby, 

Brigadier and Brevet Major-General, United States Army 

William F. Barry, 

Colonel Second Artillery, Brevet Major-General, 

United States Army. 

William N. Grier, 

Colonel Third United States Cavalry, Brevet Brigadier-General. 

H. M. Black, 

Major Seventh Infantry, Brevet Colonel, United States Army. 

Approved, and referred to the Adjutant-General 
August I, 1867. 

E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 205 

On the ist of August, 1867, General Orders No. 
73, from the Adjutant-General's office of the army, 
ultimately adopted the new system of infantry tac- 
tics for the United States Army, and for the observ- 
ance of the militia of the United States, and on the 
23d of August it was adopted and prescribed for 
the infantry forces of the State of New York. 

During the period when the tactics were being 
examined and tested, and for a long time subse- 
quently, Upton's system was the subject of a great 
deal of criticism, both favorable and unfavorable. 
Upton himself took no part in the public discussion, 
which was mainly carried on in the columns of the 
" Army and Navy Journal." He was, nevertheless, 
exceedingly interested in all that was said, and, nat- 
urally being open to conviction, he readily took the 
proper steps to correct whatever appeared to be 
defects in the minute details, but held unshaken 
ground upon the spirit of his system. He was over- 
whelmed with correspondence after the tactics were 
adopted, and received thousands of letters asking 
information upon hundreds of little unimportant 
points. All these letters were conscientiously an- 
swered, and his answers were always marked with 
his native courtesy. Often, when almost overcome 
by this sort of annoyance, he felt that, could he have 
foreseen the great labor and trouble which resulted, 
he would have hesitated long before undertaking 
such a task. 

It will be seen, by a reference to the report of the 
Board of which General Grant was president, that 
this Board mentioned as among the advantages of 
Upton's system " its easy application to all arms of 



2o6 Emory Upton. 

the service." The natural sequence of this com- 
mendation was an attempt made to assimilate the 
tactics of the three arms of the service, and to this 
end a Board was assembled at Fort Leavenworth, 
Kansas, about the 15th of September, 1869, " to prac- 
tically test the systems heretofore adopted for the 
artillery, cavalry, and infantry arms of service ; to 
reconcile all differences ; to select the best forms of 
command, and of drum and bugle signals, and to 
submit for the approval of the War Department at 
as early a date as practicable the approved copies, 
in order that they may be printed in a uniform and 
convenient edition, and published for the govern- 
ment of the army and militia of the United States. 
The Board will be composed as follows : Major- 
General J. M. Schofield, United States Army ; Bre- 
vet Brigadier -General J. H. Potter, Lieutenant- 
Colonel Fourth Infantry; Brevet Major -General 
Wesley Merritt, Lieutenant-Colonel Ninth Cavalry ; 
Major James Van Voast, Eighteenth Infantry ; Bre- 
vet Colonel John Hamilton, Major First Artillery." 

General Upton undertook the revision of his tac- 
tics, and in his endeavor to overcome the difficulties 
imposed upon him by the requirements of this as- 
similation, although very much hampered, he never- 
theless succeeded in removing all of the more serious 
obstacles. 

The labors of this Board did not completely solve 
the problem, nor finally remove all the difficulties. 
Its proceedings were ultimately submitted to another 
board, composed of General Upton, Colonels Du- 
Pont and Tourtellotte, and Captain Bates, which was 
convened at West Point early in 1873. 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 207 

Colonel DuPont had been a member of a board 
of officers convened to reconstruct the artillery tac- 
tics, and there is no doubt that General Upton had 
the highest opinion of his ability, which, joined with 
his eminent services during the war as an artil- 
lery officer, greatly influenced his selection. He 
was one of those careful and exact men whose de- 
cision is based only on a searching and comprehen- 
sive examination. He was well versed in the mean- 
ing of words, and, before consenting to their em- 
ployment, he weighed well the definition of terms. 
While his untiring criticisms somewhat prolonged 
the work, the value of his services, in insuring 
greater accuracy, in diminishing the number of as- 
sailable points of adverse criticism, and in his prac- 
tical and theoretical knowledge, is beyond all ques- 
tion. The artillery tactics, as they stand to-day, are 
indebted to him for many marked improvements. 
Colonel Tourtellotte, aide to General Sherman, was 
a lawyer by profession, and had been a gallant offi- 
cer of volunteers during the war, rising to the 
rank of brigadier-general by brevet. He possessed 
most excellent judgment, and a temperament that 
fitted him to decide dispassionately upon disputed 
points. Captain Bates, instructor of cavalry tactics 
at the Military Academy, was thoroughly acquaint- 
ed with the tactics of this arm, and could test pro- 
posed innovations before consenting to their adop- 
tion. General Upton was full of the spirit of his 
subject. He had had experience in the tactics of 
the three arms during active service, and was now 
engaged in giving to the cadets theoretical instruc- 
tion in all. Impetuous by nature, he was obliged, 



2o8 Emory Upton, 

by the character and ability of his associates, to 
prove every point, and to establish by sound reason 
the rationale of each new proposition. Previous to 
and during the existence of this Board, he corre- 
sponded freely with his friend and associate Colonel 
DuPont, and his letters exhibit the anhnus that con- 
trolled him. A few extracts, to exhibit the progress 
of his work, the changes in his views, and his satis- 
faction in his completed labor, are here introduced : 

West Point, June JO, i8jo. — I fear that the assimi- 
lation of tactics will be detrimental. 

March ly, i8ji. — While there is no objection to 
assimilation, it should only take place when it will 
not prejudice either arm; but to inflict a single 
movement in infantry or artillery simply because it 
is necessary in cavalry is absurd. 

April ly, iSyi. — No better Board to revise the 
artillery tactics could be appointed than the one 
you mention, leaving me out. Could Seymour, 
Morgan, and yourself be detailed, the Board to con- 
vene here, where we have light, mortar, siege, and 
sea-coast batteries, you could get up a tactics which 
would bear the test of years. I am really too busy 
to have the additional labor of a Board imposed 
upon me, but I could assist your Board very mate- 
rially in assimilating the artillery to the infantry, 
where it can be done without prejudice to the ar- 
tillery. Besides, I would read your work over as 
you progress, and, if I discovered any inconsisten- 
cies, I would point them out. Teaching the tactics 
of the three arms enables me to discover many ab- 
surdities which could be done away with. 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 209 

January i, 18^2. — The Academy is now on a 
splendid footing. Ruger is a model soldier, and 
possesses every qualification to make a good super- 
intendent, and he is thoroughly liked. The young 
blood has a clear majority on the Academic Board, 
and, while there are no cliques or cabals, the action 
is generally satisfactory. I can tell you with all 
confidence that, in future, cadets must have some 
sense to graduate. 

December 2g, i8y2. — The infantry tactics are to 
stand according to my revision, and the artillery 
and cavalry tactics are to be assimilated as far as 
possible. We can devote from six to nine hours 
daily, and finish the work, I hope, inside of three 
weeks. Your work will terminate with the artillery 
tactics, which we will take up about January 15th. 

March i, i8yj. — The work done with Bates in 
cavalry tactics comprises school of platoon mounted, 
troop dismounted and mounted, half of troop skir- 
mish-drill mounted. By the 15th will finish battal- 
ion, and a week later brigade and division, which 
will embrace all to the appendix. The cavalry 
tactics will be a success, their mobility being quite 
equal to the infantry. 

March ij, i8yj. — Cavalry tactics progressing 
finely, and Tourtellotte begins to see that assimila- 
tion is not hopeless, after all. 

March /^, 1873. — Tourtellotte delighted with 
the assimilation, and will be more pleased still when 
he sees the troop and skirmishers. All the move- 
ments by fours we have proved by experiment in 
the riding-hall, and, what is more gratifying, we 
have fully satisfied ourselves that in wheeling about 



210 Emory Upton. 

by fours in line there is ample space for chiefs of 
platoon and file-closers to pass between the fours 
pending the movement. This is a great triumph, 
and completes, in every respect, the assimilation to 
infantry. 

The correspondence up to the next quoted ex- 
tract referred mainly to DuPont's labors in artillery 
tactics, expressing gratification at his progress, and 
showing that all the credit for these tactics belonged 
to DuPont himself. The labors of the Board prac- 
tically ceased in July, only minor matters requiring 
attention, and these received at Upton's hands the 
most careful study. 

August 12, iSyj. — With regard to Tourtellotte's 
fear that General Sherman will become impatient 
" at the delay in completing the minor points," I am 
resolved not to be stampeded. It is our reputation 
that is at stake, and the only safe course is to make 
haste slowly by being satisfied at each step that we 
are right. The fact is, that our work all around has 
had so many tests that we can not make any gross 
mistakes. 

September i, i8yj. — Battalion drills begin to-day, 
and afford another opportunity to verify our work. 

October ji, i8y^. — Tactics are printed, and copies 
sent to you. [Colonel DuPont was at that time in 
Europe.] We have at least given our successors a 
basis upon which to work. 

November 2j, iSy^. — The statuettes sent me by 
you are beautiful ; a most becoming ornament to a 
soldier's quarters, and as an evidence of your esteem 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 211 

they will be appreciated all my life. They will re- 
mind me of much hard work, and of a devotion to 
duty on your part, which I wish the Government 
might suitably recognize. I fear, however, we shall 
have to find our recompense in the satisfaction 
which results from contemplating one's labors. 
That may not be inconsiderable, for I firmly be- 
lieve that the three books will stand many years as 
an evidence of our labor, and, in your case, of the 
midnight oil often consumed in their production. 
The artillery tactics have been sent to Washing- 
ton, but have not been out sufficiently long to elicit 
criticism. I sent General Barry a copy. He spoke 
favorably of them, but regretted that we did not 
give the Board of which he, Hunt, and French were 
members any credit. They, however, in my judg- 
ment, are no more entitled to it than Anderson 
and the French writers whose works he translated. 
Certainly there is not a single paragraph in your 
artillery-work identical with one in any previous 
book. 

February 25, i8y^. — I received, a few days since, 
a copy of General Sherman's letter to General 
Hunt in reply to the latter's criticism on artillery 
tactics, and, as it may interest you, I send you a 
copy. 

Hunt, I am told, began with the color of the 
cover of the book, and then went through it in a 
savage spirit, leaving us nothing to stand upon. 
General Sherman's reply has answered him com- 
pletely. There has been little or no criticism in the 
"Journal," beyond what I have sent you. General 
Barry has written me several letters, taking it ap- 



212 Emory Upton. 

parently very hard that we in our preface did not 
give the French, Barry, and Hunt Board all the 
credit of producing the new work. 1 told him that 
we concluded that we could not give one party 
credit without mentioning a vast number equally 
entitled to it. He finally admitted that they could 
only claim originality in the school of the battery 
dismounted ; that the detachment as a unit was orig- 
inal, and that in consequence of the simplicity of 
this device the volunteer artillery was made efficient 
in one tenth of the time required by former tactics. 
He also repeated Hunt's insinuations that I derived 
my principle of " fours " from the artillery, and, as 
might be inferred, all the benefits resulting from the 
recent improvements in tactics could be referred 
back to the invention of the detachment. I told him 
that before their Board assembled the batteries must 
have had a system of manoeuvres on foot, and, to en- 
lighten me, he replied that some used infantry drill, 
while all the horse-batteries used the dismounted 
drill of the cavalry — in other words, they wheeled 
and manoeuvred by " fours." 

As the detachment had but a front of four men, 
I replied that their unit differed from the " four " 
only in name, and that the source of their inspi- 
ration must have been the cavalry. He also felt 
aggrieved because we appropriated the Gatling 
drill. To this I replied that, as you were a mem- 
ber of the Board which got it up, you felt at per- 
fect liberty to use it, and, further, that either of us 
could have prepared it in three or four days. I 
believe he is satisfied that we were right in doing 
as we did. 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 213 

The labors of the Board being completed, and 
the manuscript of the three tactics having been ap- 
proved and sent to the printer, the subject of tactics 
was settled for the army for the time being by the 
pubHcation of General Order No. 6, Headquarters 
of the Army : 

War Department, Washington, D. C, Jzdy 17, 1873. 

The revision of Upton's infantry tactics by the 
author, and the tactics for artillery and cavalry (in- 
cluding the proceedings of the Board — Major-Gen- 
eral Schofield, President — instituted by General 
Orders No. 60, Headquarters of the Army, Adju- 
tant-General's Ofifice, Series of 1869) assimilated to 
the tactics for infantry, pursuant to instructions 
from the General of the Army, by Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel Emory Upton, First Artillery, Instructor of 
Tactics, United States Military Academy ; Captain 
Henry A. DuPont, Fifth Artillery, commanding Bat- 
tery F, Fifth Artillery ; Captain John E. Tourtel- 
lotte. Seventh Cavalry, Colonel and Aide-de-Camp 
to the General ; Captain Alfred E. Bates, Second 
Cavalry, Assistant Instructor of Cavalry Tactics, 
United States Military Academy ; having been ap- 
proved by the President, are adopted for the in- 
struction of the army and militia of the United 
States. 

To insure uniformity, all exercises, evolutions 
and ceremonies not embraced in these tactics are 
prohibited, and those therein prescribed will be 
strictly enforced. 

William W. Belknap, 

Secretary of War. 



214 Bmory Upton. 

It would be foreign to the purpose of this 
memoir to consider the objections which have been 
made against the assimilation of the tactics. Pro- 
fessional men may reasonably differ in regard to 
the details of their profession, and these differences 
may sometimes become the more pronounced in 
proportion as the particular point at issue is the 
more insignificant. In course of time, as the arms 
change and become more efficient, modifications of 
tactics will necessarily arise. Leaving aside, there- 
fore, all questions relating to origin, authorship, and 
importance of the changes that have taken place in 
the tactics of the three arms of the service since the 
war, we may briefly sum up the influence that Gen- 
eral Upton unquestionably exerted in this respect.- 

Early in his career as a regimental commander, 
and while in active service, he became convinced 
that certain improvements could be devised for the 
more rapid formation of troops from line into 
column and from column into line. He believed 
in the value of the unit of four men as comrades in 
battle, and made it the basis of his new system. He 
discarded what was known as " inversions " by 
having no fixed right or left, these directions being 
the actual right or left of the given formation. He 
simplified his commands and greatly abbreviated 
the subject-matter of his text. Thoroughly con- 
vinced by theoretical considerations and actual ob- 
servation, he exhibited his system to some of his 
brother officers by actual manoeuvres of a regiment 
of volunteers in the field. He sought service in the 
cavalry and pursued* his observations during a most 
active campaign, considering every movement in 



Service in Colorado. — Tactics. 215 

all its aspects, and discussing its bearing with whom- 
soever would listen to him during the night in 
camp. Deeply impressed with the importance of his 
labor and its value to our troops, he digested the 
whole, and promulgated it into a system of infantry 
tactics. It received the unequivocal indorsement 
of two boards, composed of the best and most capa- 
ble officers, and was finally adopted by the Presi- 
dent as the American system of tactics. 

The following extracts from a letter sent him by 
an officer whose professional knowledge and ability 
are unquestioned are worth preserving in this con- 
nection : 

St. Louis, Jidy 20, 1870. 

... I can state my individual opinion, as con- 
cerns the question of the credit due you on the 
" Tactics." I do not consider the " formations," or 
(better, may be) the " orders," in which men may 
be placed, as the peculiar property of any individ- 
ual. The order in column, in line, and in their subor- 
dinate formations, are the common property of the 
world. If a man starts an elementary system, it is 
his obligation to show how to bring about these 
orders or formations. This is the cart-horse part of 
the business of authorship. Now, I know nothing 
of the laws in the question of copyright. 

But I say that, so far as I am actually informed, 
you are entitled to the full credit of the following 
proposition : " Upton was the first to assert and ap- 
ply that fours in double rank was the smallest unit 
that could be wheeled into column, and thus get rid 
of the lock-step in the flank marches that a line of 
men might have to take up." 



2i6 Emory Upton. 

This may appear a small declaration, but you 
will remember that it is more than can be said of 
Scott, of Hardee, of Casey, or of any other tactician 
before you. Hardee could form fours {in facing). 
This he got from the French. Cooke could wheel 
fours (single-rank cavalry), and may be suggested 
that double-rank infantry could do the same thing, 
but how to obtain the " distance " I have yet to see 
that he found out. Hunt always had fours practi- 
cally in his artillery detachments of cannoneers, but 
it was a simple necessity of their having a com- 
mandant. He took no advantage of it to obliterate 
the lock-step. 

You have combined all the advantages, and you 
must be remunerated. 

Upton was not called upon to consider the sub- 
ject of tactics again until the matter forced itself 
upon the attention of military men, by more recent 
improvements in the weapons devised for infantry, 
and, as this matter has an important bearing upon 
his professional reputation and his estimate as a tac- 
tician, we will return to the subject in another chap- 
ter. 



CHAPTER VII. 

MARRIAGE. 

On the eastern shore of Lake Owasco, in Cen- 
tral New York, nestled among willows, is a quaint 
old homestead, which dates from the early years of 
the century. Growing by degrees from a simple 
farm-house in the midst of a virgin forest, Willow- 
brook has been for many years a mansion celebrated 
for its open hospitality. Under its roof many fair 
women and learned men have gathered in times 
past. 

Although the family at Willowbrook had had, 
so far, apparently not the slightest interest in the 
life of Emory Upton, yet the time was near at hand 
when this home was to become the center of his 
dearest hopes and affections, for it was here that he 
first met Emily Norwood Martin, the fifth child of 
Enos T. Throop Martin, Esq., and his wife, Cornelia 
Williams. 

She was a fair-haired, blue-eyed maiden, gentle 
in her ways, modest in her demeanor, and full of 
kindly affection. Her childhood was wholly spent 
under the watchful eye and tender care of a devoted 
mother, whose lovely Christian character and wom- 
anly sweetness not only cemented the family in the 
strongest bonds of love, but extended their influence 
beyond the home circle. 



2i8 Emory Upton. 

Emily's childhood was a period of peace and 
gentleness. She was surrounded by all the good 
things that modest wealth could command, and the 
pervading atmosphere of a happy religious home 
exercised its spiritual influence upon her thoughts 
and conduct. Every beautiful thing which attracted 
her childish notice gave rise to spontaneous thanks 
to God as its maker. He was always present to 
her, and ever showering on her his love and tender- 
ness. As early as her ninth year she wished to 
make her profession of faith, but it was not until 
the summer of 1858, when nearly twelve years old, 
that she became a communicant of the church. 
Her mother, in preparing her for this important 
step, lost no opportunity of impressing the Word 
of God upon her child's conscience, and in dwelling 
upon the great importance of a living faith in the 
Hearer of heart-felt prayers. Scattered through 
her diary, in which she was accustomed to record 
events, are such humble and heart-felt prayers as 
that God would teach her " to be gentle," " to be 
kind," "■ to be obliging," " to become more gentle," 
"to do more good to others," and others of simi- 
lar import. Her daily life was filled with acts of 
kindness, courtesy, and self-denial quite uncommon 
with the young. All her devotions and good deeds 
w^ere done with a willing spirit and a glad heart. 
It is another evidence of her true devotional spirit 
that she never assumed righteousness to herself, but 
attributed her power to do right to the Lord alone, 
and constantly asked of him greater strength to 
merit his favor and affection. 

Her elder sister, Evelina, married General A. J. 



Marriage. 2 1 9 

Alexander, November 3, 1864. This officer, it will 
be remembered, commanded the First Brigade of the 
Fourth Cavalry Division in the Selma campaign, and 
it was during this campaign that a strong mutual 
attachment sprang up between Upton and Alexan- 
der. This grew into a close friendship, which had 
an important bearing on Upton's after-life ; for, by 
reason of this friendship, the doors of the hospitable 
mansion of Willowbrook were to be thrown wide 
open to him, and here he was to see his future wife 
growing in grace and goodly character. 

General Alexander was stationed, after the close 
of active operations, at Knoxville, Tennessee. Here 
his duties permitted him to bring down his young 
wife to share his army-life, and to give her an op- 
portunity of witnessing the varied and exciting 
scenes incident to the end of the war. General Up- 
ton's command was stationed in the vicinity, and he 
frequently employed his leisure moments in social 
visits to his friend and comrade, to talk over points 
of tactics, which fully occupied his mind at that 
time, or to recall again the incidents connected with 
their glorious campaign in Alabama. 

In the close and informal association which be- 
longs to camp-life in the army, knowledge of char- 
acter becomes intimate and thorough. Upton, 
tested in this way by the intuitive perceptions of 
a good woman, was esteemed for his manly quali- 
ties, and soon gained a devoted friend in Mrs. Alex- 
ander. He accepted an invitation from his friends 
to visit Willowbrook at the first favorable oppor- 
tunity, and remembered his promise after he had 
gone to his new post in Colorado. 



220 Emory Upton. 

Coming East after having been mustered out of 
the volunteer service, and while awaiting orders to 
join his battery in the regular army, he availed him- 
self of a visit home, to spend a short time at Wil- 
lowbrook, hoping to meet his comrade and renew 
the pleasant associations of former days. 

It was near the close of a summer's day that he 
for the first time approached this lovely home. He 
was charmed with its quaint but home-like look, its 
beautiful surroundings, and its air of quiet peaceful- 
ness. But he was compelled, by the absence of his 
brother officer, to introduce himself to the large 
family circle gathered there, and he felt an almost 
overwhelming sense of embarrassment. But, though 
diffident by nature and somewhat confused by his 
innate modesty, he summoned to his aid his self- 
possession, and made the best of his situation. The 
members of the family at once, by their genial hos- 
pitality, soon put him at ease, and he readily ac- 
commodated himself to his surroundings. On this 
occasion there were also several guests from distant 
cities, who had come together in this rural retreat 
for summer recreation, and the bevy of young ladies 
might well have bewildered the modest stranger so 
suddenly introduced into their circle. But, nothing 
daunted by numbers, he selected from the charming 
group one diffident and unassuming like himself, 
and in her he soon found a congenial and agree- 
able associate. And thus their first acquaintance 
began. She, innately conscious of his diffidence, 
exerted her womanly powers to interest him ; and 
he, responding, gratefully appreciated her sincere 
and hearty welcome. Subjects of mutual interest 



Marriage. 221 

brought them into closer sympathy as they strolled 
together along the beautiful shore of Owasco Lake. 
Little did they then suspect what the future had in 
store for them ; nor could they then perceive the 
influences which were destined to blend their lives 
into one more complete in sympathy and affection. 

So far Upton had had but few opportunities to 
cultivate the friendship of women. His active mili- 
tary career had filled the interval between his nar- 
row life as a military student and the broader intel- 
lectual and social life he was then experiencing. 
His affections had been centered upon the members 
of his own family. Filial and fraternal love satisfied 
the demands of his heart, and he had not yet awak- 
ened to the greater possibilities of human affection. 
While the religious sentiments of his boyhood had 
not yet been subjected to severe trial, they had at 
least pitched for him the standard tone of honor, in- 
tegrity, and proper behavior in the discharge of his 
duties. Estimating women by the standard of his 
much-loved sisters, he eagerly sought their society, 
and always yielded to them the reverence and re- 
spect with which good men regard them. 

But now, all unconsciously, there was growing 
in him that love of woman born of gratitude for her 
sympathy, of respect for her intellect, and of admi- 
ration for her personal beauty. She, too, was at- 
tracted and drawn to him by his soldierly manliness, 
and intuitively appreciated his worth, veiled though 
it might be by his modest and simple bearing. She 
soon learned of his gallantry in battle, of his devo- 
tion to duty, and of his unswerving faithfulness ; 
so that during this visit of Upton their brief asso- 



222 Emory Upton. 

ciation resulted in a mutual interest in each other, 
and a desire for more intimate acquaintance. They 
parted with kindly feeling, wholly unconscious that 
their future lives were to be no longer separate. 

In the following January they unexpectedly met 
in New York, while she was journeying to Wash- 
ington to spend the winter and spring. Here Up- 
ton sought her frequently, and could not conceal 
from himself the growth of his regard and his in- 
creasing pleasure in her society. He was charmed 
and fascinated with the sweet and holy influences 
that seemed to surround her, and his intellect was 
gratified by the evidences of her culture. 

But in the intimate association which followed 
this renewed friendship there came more complete 
knowledge of each other's character, and an awaken- 
ing to realities of the utmost importance to both. 
In a worldly point of view, Upton's life had been 
one of marked success. Honors and advancement 
in his profession had been bestowed upon him in 
recognition of his brilliant services. Commendation 
from high quarters had flattered his self-esteem. 
Personal ambition had well-nigh usurped the con- 
trol of his manhood, and had almost suffocated the 
true humility of the earnest Christian. The doubts 
and questionings, which so insidiously attack and 
quite often overthrow the citadel of faith, had laid 
siege to Upton's religious belief. Not fully con- 
scious himself of the danger to which his faith was 
exposed, he was honest in the expression of his 
doubts. He had witnessed suffering and distress, 
he had personal knowledge of the triumph of wrong- 
doers and of the humiliation of the good, and un- 



Marriage. 223 

consciously he had given a resting-place in his mind 
to doubts of God's providence and God's justice. 
Though these doubts and questionings had not yet 
taken root, he had permitted them to enter, and had 
in a measure defended their insidious arguments. 

In their intimate personal friendship the maiden 
soon learned that her hero seriously questioned the 
truth of those tenets of her faith which she valued 
more than life, and without which she could have 
no hope of eternal salvation. She soon recognized 
his danger, and she earnestly prayed often that God 
would occupy anew his rightful domain in the heart 
of him who so deeply interested her. Under God's 
providence this weak child, strong in the faith, was 
destined to lead him to his trial, and bring him out of 
it, humbled and weakened, but purified. She could 
never consent to yield up her life to on£ in whom 
the peace of God had not found an abiding-place. 
Later she wrote to him as follows : 

WiLLOWBROOK, October 13, 1867. 

. . . To-day is communion Sabbath, and I have 
been to the Lord's Supper, and there once more 
have partaken of his dying love. I always try to 
£pend some time in preparing for this solemn ordi- 
nance, and at this season in particular I have been 
frequently led to think of what you told me last 
spring about your spiritual state, and I have deeply 
mourned over it. Having once known the blessed- 
ness of being a child of God and coming to his 
table, I truly believe that you can not be willing to 
give him up, and once more cast your lot with the 
world, the enemies of Christ our Saviour. 



224 Emory Upton. 

Indeed, from a remark you made last winter on 
returning from witnessing the communion service, 
as well as the many conversations I have had with 
you, I can not but think you have really the right 
ideas and feelings on the subject of religion. But 
you have suffered yourself to be led away, your un- 
derstanding to be darkened, and your faith and con- 
fidence in God's justice to be shaken. A great re- 
sponsibility rests on you ; you are believed to be a 
professor of religion. I have heard this from sev- 
eral sources ; also of the decided stand you took on 
the Lord's side while at West Point, and of the in- 
fluence of your example there. 

Never was I more shocked and astonished than 
when I heard from your own lips the admission 
that your faith in God's justice had been shaken, and 
that you no longer felt that you were a Christian. 
One of the strongest bonds in my friendship for you 
was the feeling that you could sj'mpathize with me 
on the subject nearest my heart, and that I could 
therefore trust you as I would not men of the world. 
I can not believe that God will leave his wander- 
ing child to perish, and, though it may be through 
much tribulation, he will bring you back to the 
fold. Already he has sent you a sorrow which, I 
pray God, may be sanctified to the good of your 
soul. I have given you one of my greatest treas- 
ures, my own Bible, which has never left me before ; 
may it be a comfort to you, and the truths contained 
therein be the means of bringing you once more into 
the kingdom ! God is ready to receive all who repent 
and come to him. Though your sins be as scarlet, 
they will be blotted out in the blood of the Lamb. 



Marriage. 225 

For many months I have seldom closed my eyes 
without praying for you, my friend, and I feel that 
I can not bear to see you shutting yourself out from 
God's favor without making this last effort to assure 
you that some one cares and prays for your soul. 
This must be my excuse for this letter, for I feel too 
sinful to advise or caution others. I have faith to 
believe that the prayers offered this day, while at 
the table of the Lord, will be heard and answered. 

This letter was received by Upton when he was 
on duty at Paducah, Kentucky, and it had an im- 
portant influence upon him. He saw clearly the 
beautiful, child-like faith which animated this pure 
maiden, and he could not deny in his inmost soul 
the truths which she brought so vividly to his mind. 
Then ensued the conflict of conflicts. The powers 
of self-love, personal ambition, worldly favors and 
honors, were arrayed against the silent influences of 
God's merciful providence. As in all critical com- 
bats, the struggle was long continued, uncertain at 
times, fierce and terrible, but when it was ended, 
although weak and sorely wounded, Upton came 
from it purified. Thenceforward these powers of 
evil could have no further dominion over him ; this 
particular temptation had assailed him : he had 
fought it and gained the victory, and never again 
could his faith in God's providence be assailed. This 
faith not only regained its former abiding-place in 
his heart, but had also gained possession of the cita- 
del of his reason. It became then the standard by 
which he regulated his thoughts as well as his out- 
ward actions. 



226 Emory Upton. 

Upton's interest in his fair correspondent was 
not content to rest at friendship. Admiration, 
affection, love, shade each into the other, grow one 
from the other, and have no hne of demarkation. 
What can be more beautiful in this life than the 
awakening of such an interest in both hearts, its 
growth nourished by the sweetest influences of com- 
panionship, and its ultimate development in the 
holy love of marriage? Who can picture the 
changes in their wondrous variet}'^ as this affection 
grows in power and strength until as love it encom- 
passes the soul, and seeks sole possession as the 
greatest of God's gifts and blessings ? Who, that 
watches the influences of a happy marriage, the 
gradual growth into unity from diversity, and even 
the assimilation of features as life continues, can 
doubt that this heavenly gift of marriage is most 
holy ? Now this young maiden was well worthy, 
mentally and personally, of all General Upton's de- 
votion. Tall and slender, with a graceful figure, 
and well-shaped head, crowned with a wealth of 
golden hair, the greatest charm of her face was not 
so much in its oval outline and regular features, as 
in the exquisite beauty of her eyes. 

Her well-balanced mind was so cultivated and 
trained as to fit her for the most important duties 
of life. To a substantial and practical education, 
such culture was added as gave beauty and orna- 
ment to the expression of her thoughts. Her love 
of poetry and familiarity with the best literature 
gave a charm to her conversation and correspond- 
ence. 

She was deeply religious, and possessed the 



Marriage, 227 

power of infusing into the minds of those with 
whom she associated a reverence for those things 
which she herself held sacred ; but though habit- 
ually thoughtful and highly devotional in her daily 
life, she delighted in all that was joyous, loved 
society, and was a most appreciative listener to 
those whose conversation was interesting and in- 
structive — her modesty leading her rather to hear 
what others said than to take part in general con- 
versation. Her retiring nature, united to an ex- 
tremely amiable disposition and a sound judgment, 
drew all hearts to her. 

Such was the woman and such the man to whom 
had come the oft-repeated experience. There could 
be but one sequel. He earnestly begged of her the 
greatest boon that woman may give unto man, the 
acknowledgment of her love : 

" She listened with a fitting blush, 

With downcast eyes and modest grace ; 
For well she knew he could not choose 
But gaze upon her face." 

With the approbation of her parents, she be- 
came engaged to him on the i6th of November, 
1867. 

Upton, arranging matters in accordance with 
his changed conditions of life, applied for, and ob- 
tained, a year's leave of absence, from November 
29, 1867, with permission to go beyond the sea, in- 
tending to devote the greater portion in Europe to 
the study of the military art, especially that relating 
to tactics. He was thus enabled to spend the 



228 Emory Upton. 

Christmas holidays at Willowbrook, where a large 
family party had gathered to enjoy the festivities. 
He soon became an intimate in the family circle, 
and endeared himself by his worth to all, and his 
courtship suffered at first no disturbance in its 
happy course. But the bright anticipations which 
for a time promised happiness to the maiden, almost 
suddenly gave place to anxious forebodings on the 
part of those near and dear to her. She had always 
had reasonably good health, and, although not 
physically robust, she had never been the cause of 
anxiety. The indisposition that now for the first 
time gave rise to serious questionings was thought 
to be but temporary. Yet even before her mar- 
riage, when in happy ignorance of the near approach 
of illness and suffering, there seemed at times to 
have been a shadowing forth of possible disappoint- 
ment and unhappiness. In a letter written to him 
before her marriage the following passage occurs, 
to which, after her early death, Upton frequently 
referred : 

. . . Just at twilight I went into the library, 
and, sitting down before the lovely wood-fire, I gave 
myself up to my favorite diversion of building cas- 
tles in the coals. I love to spend the twilight in 
this way, thinking of pleasant things in the past, of 
dear friends, and dreaming such bright, beautiful 
dreams of the future, full of high and noble resolves 
of doing for others, gaining (through efforts to 
make others happy) happiness to myself, pondering 
how I can make my life worth the living. Then as 
the ashes fall and cover for a time the bright coals 



Marriage. 229 

into which I have been gazing-, and obscure the 
light by which I have seemed to view my future, 
the thought comes to me that tJius may some of 
the brightest of my anticipations be clouded and 
quenched by adversity and sorrov/. 

They were married on the 19th of February, 
1868, in the little parish church near the homestead, 
where she had so often worshiped. The wedding 
festivities were graced with the presence of many 
gallant officers, who came to congratulate their 
comrade, and to hope that he might enjoy all the 
blessings of peace and happiness in his new step in 
life. 

After a short visit to Upton's home, the happy 
pair made their preparations to sail for Europe 
in the hope that the healing influences of the balmy 
climate of Southern France and Italy might com- 
pletely restore her health, which could not well 
withstand the severe winters of our Northern States. 
They sailed from New York on the 7th of March in 
the French steamer Napoleon III for Brest, which 
port was reached on the 19th of March. During 
the passage his wife needed constant care, and even 
Upton's gentle ministrations could only alleviate 
the discomforts of the voyage. She suffered from 
neuralgia, and reached France greatly exhausted. 
After a short stay in Paris, he moved her by easy 
stages to the south of France, making short delays 
at Lyons and Marseilles. From the latter place he 
proceeded to Sorrento, arriving there on the 24th 
of April, giving her every attention on the journey 
that the most devoted love could inspire. 



230 Emory Upton. 

The parting of Mrs. Upton from her mother in 
New York was most affecting-, and the latter, full of 
tender solicitude placed in her child's hands, before 
saying a last farewell, the following letter, which, 
filled with the outpourings of a mother's love, 
touched most deeply the hearts of both husband 
and wife: 

New York, March 7, 1868. 

My dearest Emily: In taking leave of you I 
feel that you can no longer look to me for guidance, 
and that hereafter you must be impelled to duty by 
the dictates of your own heart and conscience. I 
would therefore earnestly pray for the abiding in- 
fluences of the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth. 
You go forth from your home without one of your 
own kindred to sympathize with you and help you 
to watch over yourself. You lean upon a mortal 
arm even when you trust all to your tender and de- 
voted husband ; and it is only in commending you 
to " Him who sees the end from the beginning " 
that I can find rest in this time of anxiety. You are 
in the hands of the Great Physician. His healing 
touch can restore you to perfect health, and I recom- 
mend you to exercise the strongest faith in him. 
Come with the confidence of a little child to Jesus ; 
tell him all your weakness ; how much you need 
to be strengthened ; what a journey lies before 
you, and plead with him for his abiding presence. 
Your strength will lie in a sense of your weakness. 
Cultivate self-reliance ; I can do all things through 
Christ strengthening me. 

I believe in overcoming disease by strong reso- 
lution ; by this I do not mean that you should make 



Marriage. 231 

spasmodic efforts to do what is beyond your 
strength. Such exertions will be followed by nerv- 
ous prostration ; but never be discouraged, how- 
ever weak you may feel. Your help is in God. 
He can strengthen you from time to time as you 
need. Keep your feet firmly planted on the Rock 
of Ages. He is now teaching you an important 
lesson by making you sensible of your weakness ; 
submit patiently to his dealings with you, but never 
lose your hold on that arm that moves the world. 

And now, dear Emily, let me say that I have 
been much gratified by the evidences I have had 
since I left home that your husband is held in 
high repute among men. I accept the honor paid 
to him as a testimony to his diligent and faithful 
performance of duty, and thus far it is to be valued ; 
but, my dear child, watch against the temptations 
to be elated by the praise of poor, dying mortals. 
Carry through all your journey the beautiful text 
which you repeated to me when we made our first 
journey together, " Man looketh on the outward ap- 
pearance, but the Lord looketh upon the heart." 
And when you receive the kind and flattering at- 
tentions which may be lavished upon you and your 
husband, and which perhaps you do not deserve 
more than others whose names are not recorded on 
the " roll of honor," ask, " What shall I render unto 
the Lord for all his benefits?" You are not your 
own ; you are bought with a price and bound to 
serve God, and I would have you offer the bread 
of life to all who show you kindness. Go forth as 
a servant of God, be faithful to him, and he has 
said, " They that honor me I will honor." 



232 Emory Upton. 

Will you sometimes, dear Emily, at the twilight 
hour, read over what I have written in the stillness 
of my chamber this morning? Oh, what tender 
recollections throng my memory as I review the 
precious years when you have been my Emily I God 
has given you grace to be through your whole life 
a dutiful, obedient child, and I shall ever cherish a 
sweet memory of your childhood and youth ; but no 
hour is so precious to me, in the review of our 
loving intercourse, as the sunset of the Sabbath, and 
the time when we gathered as a family for com- 
munion with our dear heavenly Father on Friday 
afternoon. May your heart ever be drawn to our 
Bethel on the weekly return of the hour when, in 
the past, God has so often met us and blessed us ! 
May you return to us, my dear Emily, with a ma- 
tured Christian character, with no taint of worldli- 
ness, and may we be permitted to rejoice together 
over your experience of the love of God to you ! 

I shall ever be your devoted mother. 

This tender epistle, which so fully portrayed the 
Christian mother's heart-felt wishes, and the fullness 
of her maternal love, helped the daughter to bear 
her acute bodily suffering with greater fortitude. 
She felt more keenly her helplessness because of her 
husband's devotion, and she prayed earnestly to 
be restored to health for his sake, taking every pre- 
caution that art and science could devise to reach 
this much-wished-for result. But all efforts were 
in vain, and no permanent cure was established. 
The alternations of hope were followed by many 
misgivings, and in August they returned to Wilow- 



Marriage. 233 

brook to remain until October, and thence to Key 
West for the winter. 

Upon the expiration of Upton's leave of absence 
his duty called him to his post at Memphis, and he 
left his wife at Key West under the care of her de- 
voted sister Nelly. 

Nearly five months elapsed before he saw his 
wife again. Her frequent letters gave him constant 
hope, for she made much of any slight improve- 
ment, and dwelt but little upon less favorable symp- 
toms. His professional duties and military studies, 
together with his ignorance of the serious nature 
of her illness, and the hope her letters inspired, 
united in helping him bear this separation manfully. 
He awaited with great anxiety information as to 
the destination of his regiment, which was soon to 
be moved from Memphis, in the hope that its new 
station would permit him to send her the joyous 
recall she was so longingly awaiting. He thus con- 
veys the good news to his sister : 

Memphis, March 28, 1869. 

I am very happy this evening, because next Sun- 
day I shall meet my wife in New Orleans. She 
leaves Nassau to-morrow, and by a happy chance 
she will find at Havana a steamer which left Balti- 
more the same day that the steamer via Nassau left 
New York, and upon which she will take passage 
for New Orleans. 

Instead of our regiment going to Arizona, as I 
learned at first, its destination is Atlanta. The 
climate is good, and it is not unlikely that my dear 
wife will derive great benefit from this location. 



234 Emory Upton. 

I hope that a sojourn of three or four years will 
be sufficient to re-establish her health. I am not 
sure that I will not be in command of the garri- 
son at Atlanta, but that is not a matter of much 
importance so long as I can remain in Georgia. I 
wish a warm and uniform climate. Were it not 
for the actual condition of my dear Emily's health, 
I would not hesitate to go anywhere, but under 
the present circumstances my first care must be for 
her. 

For a short time they were reunited, and happi- 
ness seemed to hold them in its keeping. At his 
new station at McPherson Barracks, Atlanta, every- 
thing appeared favorable to her recovery. She un- 
packed her household goods, and took great pleas- 
ure in adorning and beautifying their new home. 
The garrison was a large one after the arrival of 
the Eighteenth Infantry from the Plains, and she 
had the companionship of many of her own sex, 
the wives of officers, who enchanted her with their 
cheerfulness and pleasant manners under what would 
be to most ladies trying discomforts. But the glad 
spirit of the wife could not long overcome the ever- 
increasing and ever-present shadow of her physical 
weakness. On the 30th of June she was compelled 
to seek again the tender nursing of her mother in 
her struggle for Hfe, and hurried her toward Willow- 
brook. Here she remained until early in Novem- 
ber, when the approach of wintry weather forced 
her to turn again toward Nassau. She never again 
saw her home, for her gentle spirit took leave of 
earth in the early days of the spring. 



Marriage. 235 

Her husband took entire charge of her in this 
last voyage, but the exigencies of the service com- 
pelled him to leave her after a short stay, and he 
returned in the December steamer. He hardly 
reahzed, as he parted from her, that he was never 
to look upon her fair face again in life, but was 
buoyed up by the hope that he would again bring 
her back to home and happiness when the spring 
was well established. Her constant letters alter- 
nately gave him hope and distress, but when the 
sad news came finally, he needed all of his Chris- 
tian faith and fortitude to recognize the truth that 
" He doeth all things well." 

After leaving his wife at Nassau, he had re- 
turned on the expiration of his leave to his post 
at Atlanta. Just as he was arranging for his de- 
parture for Nassau in March, he was apprised by 
a telegram, by way of Havana, dated March 29th, 
that she was failing rapidly, and that he could not 
possibly reach her before it was too late. So 
quickly did her disease progress that he had 
scarcely time to reahze her imminent danger 
before he was made aware of his bereavement. 
She died at one o'clock on the morning of the 
30th of March, in the full exercise of her Christian 
faith. 

With unexpected strength she had held on to 
life until the incoming steamer had landed, not ex- 
pecting, but yet hoping for her husband's presence, 
and anxious to get his last loving message. 

Her attending physician. Dr. Kirkwood, who 
was also a valued personal friend, in writing to 
General Upton, says : 



236 Emory Upton. 

Nassau, Jtme 26, 1870. 

My dear General: I have had no heart to 
write to you before now, since the death of your 
dear, good, beautiful wife, as all commonplace con- 
dolence would, for such an irreparable loss, be out 
of place, and incomprehensible to you. I have no 
doubt that you have regretted extremely that you 
were not with her during her last days, but as there 
was no decided, nor indeed apparent change until 
about ten days before her death, it was impossible 
for you to have reached here, or to have even com- 
municated with you. About two months before 
her death, Nelly and I consulted about the expe- 
diency of sending for you, but as nothing indicated 
that Mrs. Upton might not live for three or even 
six months longer, we considered it not advisable 
to send for you before the time you had arranged 
for coming ; and when your wife expressed a desire 
that you should not be sent for, we did not feel our- 
selves warranted in so doing, especially as I must 
have told you what I told Nelly, and what I told 
Mrs. Martin before leaving Willowbrook, that there 
was no possible chance of Emily's recovering. The 
sad truth would come all too soon when it could no 
longer be concealed. Your dear wife did not really 
realize thoroughly her state for more than a week 
or ten days before her death, and I think it was a 
blessing she did not, as in her case no warning was 
necessary to prepare her for the end, as her beauti- 
ful life had been so perfect and good that little 
change was necessary to convert her to what she is 
now— an angel. But the main thing in the matter 
of your absence is in this, that she really suffered 



I 



Marriage. 237 

less, I believe, in dying-, than she would have done 
if you had been present ; for the pain of parting- 
would have been increased tenfold, and she expressed 
herself very decidedly to that effect the day before 
she died, when she was suffering very much. As I 
was sitting by her bedside she said, " Oh, I am so 
glad that Upton is not here to witness this, it would 
add so much to both our pain in parting ! " and 
added several similar expressions, showing her con- 
viction that it was better for both that you were 
not present, and I am convinced that your presence 
would have made her last parting from this world 
more painful and bitter for her, and infinitely more 
agonizing to you ; therefore I think you should con- 
sider the matter in the same light as she did, and 
believe that " whatever is is best." Then she had 
every care that loving and sympathizing friends 
could give. Every person who had the happiness 
of knowing your dear wife gave, if he could nothing 
more, his love and kindest sympathy. Indeed, 1 
never knew any person who received so much gen- 
eral love and esteem, and, I may safely add, or who 
deserved it more. 

Upton was indeed bereaved. Nothing but his 
firm religious faith could have sustained him in 
the trying months that followed. The memory of 
his wife was kept fresh and pure, and her influence 
on his life never for a moment failed him. But 
his after-life, although devoted to the conscientious 
discharge of his duties, lacked that rounded full- 
ness that would have graced and perfected it had 
it been given him to live it with his chosen wife. 



238 Emory Upton. 

In time he regained his wonted spirits, to all out- 
ward appearance, but, to those who were permitted 
to penetrate his inmost thoughts, the growth in 
spiritual manhood was known to be real and pro- 
gressive. 

After the first severe trial, he never yielded to 
rebeUious thoughts, but acknowledged that " He 
doeth all things well." He never for a moment for- 
got his beloved wife, nor permitted her image to fade 
from his mind. He kept her memory fresh and pure, 
dweUing on her virtues, her love, and her inheritance 
as a child of God. This led him to believe her still 
hving, yet waiting for him, kept him pure, more at- 
tentive to his rehgious duties, and caused him to 
seek opportunities of helping others to obtain the 
peace of mind that had found a lodging in his soul. 
His weekly letters to her mother down to the day of 
his own death are filled with the noblest sentiments 
and records of the purest conduct ; all unconsciously 
told with the humility and sincerity of a man in whom 
" the peace of God " has found a resting-place. 

It is unquestionably the most marked tribute to 
the greatness and priceless value of the true love of 
a wife for her husband. It came to him at a time 
when the glory of his profession had reached its 
highest limit, and when without it he might have 
let go the substance of his faith for the shadowy 
possession of mere human praise, and the temporal- 
ities of a worldly life of ambition. He was merci- 
fully directed to center his thoughts and his love on 
higher treasures than those of earth, and his life 
gave striking evidence that it was in accord with 
his religious belief. 



Marriage. 239 

The following- letters exhibit the trustful spirit 
of the Christian who alone can bear up under such 
severe trials, and show how Upton, through his 
chastening, grew in meekness and grace : 

WiLLOWBROOK, May II, 1870. 

My dear Parents: Mrs. Martin and I will 
leave to-morrow morning for New York on our 
way to Atlanta, where, with God's blessing attend- 
ing us, we shall arrive Saturday, the 21st. I shall 
remain there about ten days, and then break up, 
preparatory to establishing myself at West Point. 
We shall go via Washington, and return via Charles- 
ton and the sea to New York. Nelly arrived last 
Friday from Nassau, quite worn in body and mind. 
She passed a most trying month in Nassau, mostly 
because she had no one to whom she could confide 
her griefs, and from whom she could receive heart- 
felt sympathy. All the accounts she brings of my 
dear Emily convey consolation. She tells us that 
Emily passed a most happy winter ; that she suffered 
far less at Nassau than she did at home last summer, 
and the last ten days of her illness were not of that 
painful nature we had apprehended. I strive to 
bow to this affliction, and to acknowledge in it the 
goodness of God ; )^et I selfishly long for my dar- 
ling. I know this feeling to be wrong, since Emily, 
having finished her labors, has simply been called 
to her heavenly rest. She was prepared to go ; 
her life was complete, and God has called her to 
himself. I know that in her death I have been 
drawn nearer to Christ, and that I can now lay hold 
of the plan of salvation as I never could before. 



240 Emory Upton. 

Surely the resurrection of the body, the promise of 
a blessed immortality, rob death of its sting, and if 
prepared I can now see that, with St. Paul, we all 
ought to be able to say that "for me to live is 
Christ, and to die is gain." 

Those, my dear parents, who, like you, have 
nearly run the race of life, ought to look forward 
with joy and thankfulness to the dawning of eternal 
life, and I pray that with you we, as a family, may 
all soon be partakers of the joys prepared for those 
that love God. With tender love, my dear father 
and mother, Your affectionate son, 

Emory. 

Atlanta, May 22, 1870. 

My dear Sister: Mrs. Martin and I will leave 
here a week from to-morrow, so as to take at Charles- 
ton the steamer of the 31st, which, with God's bless- 
ing, will land us in New York June 3d. Mother bore 
the journey here very well. She stopped over last 
Sunday at Westchester, rested a day in Washing- 
ton, and one in Knoxville. We arrived here in 
good health Saturday morning. 

The feeling of desolation has again come over 
me, as, in entering my home, I realize that the loved 
one who made it so happy, my precious Emily, has 
gone from me forever. But God can help me to 
bear this sorrow, and, while now life offers no at- 
tractions, I know that when again in active duty, 
employed in instilling in the minds of the nation's 
future defenders ideas of devotion to duty and dis- 
cipline, I shall experience consolation in the thought 
that I am again useful in the world. Here I am in 



Marriage. 241 

the midst of a thousand evidences of Emily's love 
for me. It was at this desk my heart flowed out to 
her daily in the letters which used to comfort her 
poor heart. But all is changed. She is hidden 
from me, and already violets, blooming over her 
sacred form, offer their daily fragrance unto Heaven. 
I am not tempted to arraign the goodness of God. 
I can humbly thank him for lending me, even for so 
short a time, his angelic child, who, under his chas- 
tening hand, brought me back to a knowledge of 
the truth, and with her I can say, " Bless the Lord, 
O my soul, and forget not all his benefits." 



CHAPTER VIII. 

COMMANDANT OF CADETS. 

General Upton, upon being mustered out of 
the volunteer service in April, 1866, resumed his 
rank of captain in the Fifth Regiment of Artillery 
of the regular army. In the mean while favorable 
recommendations had been sent to the War Depart- 
ment urging that his services should not be over- 
looked in the contemplated reorganization of the 
army. From the Executive of his own State the 
following strong indorsement of his services was no 
less flattering to his friends than it was deserved by 
himself : 

State of New York, Executive Department, 

Albany, Noveinber 17, 1865. 

Hon. E. M. Stanton, 

Secretary of War. 

Sir : I have the honor to recommend that in the 
reorganization of the regular army Brevet Major- 
General E. Upton may be appointed to a position 
commensurate with his experience, abilities, and 
distinguished services. As a representative of this 
State our people have taken a just pride in his brill- 
iant and highly honorable record in the field. 

The troops under the immediate command of 
General Upton have captured twenty colors, thirty- 



Commandant of Cadets. 243 

nine guns, and over six thousand prisoners, as ap- 
pears from the official reports. He has been three 
times wounded, and has had a number of horses 
killed under him. I earnestly desire that his meri- 
torious and patriotic services, extending through 
the entire war, may receive proper recognition by 
conferring as high rank and important command as 
may seem justly his due. 

Very respectfully, 

R. E. Fenton. 

On the 28th of July, 1866, he was offered and 
accepted the rank of lieutenant-colonel of the 
Twenty-fifth Regiment of Infantry. He passed his 
examination with credit on the loth of October, and 
was commissioned to date from the day of his ap- 
pointment. This substantial reward and recogni- 
tion of his services during the war was acknowl- 
edged by all who knew Upton, and were acquainted 
with his career, as well deserved. But in the great 
reduction that attended the reorganization of the 
regular army, there were many officers who had 
held high commands, had displayed creditable mili- 
tary ability, and who naturally expected to receive 
due recognition in the reorganization of the army. 
Some were offered rank but little higher than that 
which they had gained by the slow process of lineal 
promotion, and some were wholly passed over. A 
number of these had had longer service than Upton, 
and had held as high, if not higher, commands. Of 
course the distribution of the prizes which was 
made was held by these gentlemen and their friends 
to be unfair. Individual instances may certainly be 



244 Emory Upton. 

cited which, without a thorough knowledge of all 
the controlling circumstances, would appear to con- 
firm even the harshest criticism that could be made. 
For instance, an officer of fifteen years' service be- 
fore the commencement of the rebellion had attained 
to the rank of captain of artillery, and was in com- 
mand of his company at Fort Moultrie, and formed 
with it a part of the garrison of Fort Sumter in its 
defense by Major Anderson. This captain had seen 
service in Mexico, and had been twice brevetted 
for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battles 
which preceded the capture of the city of Mexico 
by General Scott. He gained the full rank of 
brigadier-general of volunteers early in 1862, and 
the brevets of all the grades up to and including 
that of major-general in the regulars and volun- 
teers. He was a most gallant officer, and full of 
earnestness, courage, and devotion to duty under 
the most trying circumstances of the war. His act- 
ive service and exposure to every danger incident 
to war were second to none. Yet, when the war 
ended, his lineal rank in the artillery was still that 
of captain, and upon being mustered out of the 
volunteer service he returned to the command of 
his company of artillery on the Florida coast in the 
fall of 1865. 

While such cases appear to give color to the cry 
of partisan feeling with which the selecting and 
appointing powers were charged, it is to be re- 
marked that no possible assignment could have been 
made against which similar adverse criticism might 
not with apparent justice have been urged. And 
so far as Upton himself was concerned, it is quite 



Commandant of Cadets. 245 

certain that his advancement was a just and proper 
tribute to his eminent military ability and gallant 
services, and that, but for the rule requiring ap- 
pointees from the regular army in the same grade 
to take rank according to date of previous commis- 
sion, he would have been a colonel, or stood at the 
head of the lieutenant-colonels. He was recom- 
mended by General Grant for the higher grade, 
but, as the names were arranged according to pre- 
vious regular army rank, his was at the end of the 
list. The President afterward interpolated two 
names, and thus pushed Upton's down into those of 
the lieutenant-colonels, where they were again ar- 
ranged according to previous regular army rank, 
which put him nearly at the foot of the list. His 
subsequent labors in his profession reflected great 
credit upon the American service, and brought in- 
creased honor to his name. 

While on duty at Atlanta he was privately in- 
formed by the authorities in Washington that the 
President had selected him as the next commandant 
at West Point, and that he was to hold himself in 
readiness to relieve Colonel H. M. Black, then com- 
mandant, June 30, 1870, the expiration of his term 
of service. This gratifying assurance of the esteem 
and confidence of the War Department was fully 
appreciated, and he eagerly anticipated the possi- 
bilities that would come to him in the discharge of 
his important trust. He thought of the pleasure it 
would bring to his beloved wife, who he knew 
would enter warmly into all his plans for the im- 
provement of the young soldiers intrusted to his 
care. 



246 Emory Upton. 

But his fondest anticipations were by her death 
at once sadly overclouded, and this bereavement 
almost, for a time, overwhelmed him, and before he 
reported for duty at West Point he had passed 
through the severest trial that a Christian man has 
to suffer, and was by it the better fitted to meet the 
requirements of his new station. 

The official head of the MiHtary Academy is a 
superintendent, having the local rank of a colonel 
of engineers, appointed by the President of the 
United States. At the time of which we write the 
law had been so amended as to permit the selection 
of superintendent to be made from the whole army, 
whereas it had previously been limited to the Corps 
of Engineers. The Academy was then under the 
superintendency of General Pitcher, the first selec- 
tion under the new act, and he had already served 
in that capacity for four years when General Upton 
reported to him as the commandant of the Corps 
of Cadets. An officer of high rank of the Inspector- 
General's Department was the inspector of the 
Academy, who reported directly to the Secretary 
of War, and was the official channel between that 
functionary and the superintendent. The superin- 
tendent has the immediate command and govern- 
ment of the institution. He directs the studies, 
academic duties, and field exercises, and renders to 
the War Department all required reports, returns, 
and estimates concerning the Academy. 

For the successful progress of the institution 
during his administration he must be endowed with 
more than ordinary ability, possess great tact and 
firmness of purpose, and such inherent quahties as 



Commandant of Cadets. 247 

to command the respect and affection of his subor- 
dinates. 

He should be sufficiently acquainted with the 
special influence of the different branches of instruc- 
tion in the development of the scholarship of the 
cadets, and should direct with judgment the opera- 
tions of the various departments, so that no undue 
prominence shall be given one to the detriment of 
another. On the other hand, he should interpose 
to check the tendency always found in educational 
institutions toward a disproportionate enlargement 
of any department, due to the zeal of its professor. 

His relation to the cadets is of the greatest im- 
portance in the exaction of discipline. Supervising 
constantly all breaches of regulations, he wields a 
powerful lever for the moral culture of the students. 
Strict impartiality in his dealings with them inspires 
confidence in the certainty that punishment will fol- 
low infractions of the regulations, and that proper 
commendation will be ensured by good behavior. 
It is essential that the most thorough accord should 
exist in the relations of the superintendent and com- 
mandant of cadets. 

This latter officer has the immediate command 
of the Battalion of Cadets, and is the instructor in 
the tactics of the three arms of the service and in 
the rules of military police, discipline, and adminis- 
tration. His example should be that of the ideal 
soldier, officer, and gentleman. He should cultivate 
soldierly honor among the cadets until it attains 
vigorous growth. He should rebuke with severity 
the first tendency to prevarication or dishonesty in 
word or act. With a system of divided responsi- 



248 Emory Upton. 

bility, which ultimately rests on one of two com- 
rades, he should control all by strict and increasing 
exactions. 

To make his government successful he should be 
endowed with the highest soldierly qualities in per- 
sonal bearing at drill, and even in every act while 
subject to the vision of his corps. 

The departments of instruction are presided 
over by professors, commissioned by the President 
as officers of the army, and confirmed by the 
Senate. They are the only permanent officers of 
the institution, and their duties pertain wholly to 
instruction, studies, and other matters of a purely 
academic character. Finally, a number of officers 
of the army belonging to the various corps and 
arms are detached from their customary duties and 
sent to the Academy for a tour of four years' ser- 
vice as assistants in the several branches of instruc- 
tion. It will be seen from this outline that the 
organization of the Academy is not unlike the execu- 
tive and legislative branches of the General Gov- 
ernment. 

The superintendent is the president for four or 
more years, and after his tour expires he rejoins 
his command. While in office he is supreme, under 
the regulations. The professors act as a senate, a 
permanent body exercising a conservative influence 
in methods and in the character of instruction. The 
army officers, fresh from active service, like the 
representatives of Congress, bring with them the 
existing sentiment of the army, and return to it that 
of the Academy when they again rejoin their com- 
mands. 



Commandant of Cadets. 249 

The exacting duties of the commandant can best 
be understood by detaihng the current business to 
which his attention is directed. His office, in a 
building situated in the area of barracks, is centrally- 
located with respect to his command. At reveille, 
which occurs at 6 A. M. during study-time, or from 
September ist to June 20th, cadets are required to 
rise, dress, and appear in ranks in the area of bar- 
racks before the reveille ceases. Rolls are called by 
the cadet first sergeant of each company, absentees 
reported to each cadet captain, who, in turn, reports 
to the cadet officer of the da3\ The latter, after re- 
porting to the army officer, an instructor of tactics, 
in charge, personally seeks each delinquent, and 
notifies him of his reported absence. On breaking 
ranks, each cadet repairs to his room, makes his 
bed, and the room orderly, in addition sees that the 
room is ready for inspection. This inspection is 
performed by cadet inspectors of subdivision, em- 
bracing two floors of barracks, or eight rooms. 
Any departure from the provisions of regulations is 
noted on the orderly report-book. Breakfast roll- 
call takes place thirty minutes after reveille, and 
after breakfast study-hours begin. The comman- 
dant appears in his office at 7.30 A. M., from and after 
which time cadets may seek interviews with him to 
explain any delinquencies with which they may 
have been reported in the preceding twenty-four 
hours. In these interviews the utmost particularity 
of manner and bearing on the part of the cadet is 
exacted. He knocks at the door of the comman- 
dant's office, waits the invitation to enter, and stands 
uncovered and at attention while he states in clear 



250 Emory Upton. 

and concise language the object of his visit. It is 
in these personal interviews that the commandant 
learns the characteristics of the cadets. His explan- 
ations may be frank or guarded, he may be open or 
reserved, but he builds up by his behavior at the 
frequent visits the personal impression which the 
commandant attaches to him in the four years of 
his service as a cadet. Instead of seeking a personal 
interview, he may submit a written explanation of 
his delinquency, and in thus giving a written ex- 
pression to his motives and conduct he opens to 
the commandant an inner view of his character. A 
careful study of each cadet leads the commandant 
to estimate the capability of the cadet to exercise 
the duties of command, and, when this estimate is 
confirmed by those of his assistants, the command- 
ant recommends to the superintendent a list taken 
from those who have served a year, for appoint- 
ments as corporals in the battalion organization — as 
sergeants from those who have served two years, 
and as lieutenants and captains from those who have 
served three years. These are the prizes for good 
conduct, careful attention to duty, studious habits, 
and aptitude for the profession as indicated by 
their personal bearing and attention to drill and 
discipline. 

Each army officer, after orderly hours, inspects 
the barrack-rooms of his company with a good deal 
of particularity. The regulations which govern the 
cadet occupants are very precise and minute. Even 
the smallest article of clothing, under-wear, bedding, 
equipment, or accoutrement, is so arranged as to be 
readily seen by the inspector. The minute atten- 



Commandant of Cadets. 251 

tion paid to these matters furnishes the basis of the 
majority of reported deUnquencies, and has its use 
in building up an attention to detail that is consid- 
ered essential in military life. It is not regarded as 
a mark of serious unadaptability for the service to 
be occasionally lacking in these respects ; but, as 
these irregularities give demerit when not satisfac- 
torily accounted for, they affect the general stand- 
ing of the cadet in his class, and militate somewhat 
against a soldierly reputation in the battalion or- 
ganization. 

The control and supervision of the cadets are 
under the commandant and his assistants during the 
entire twenty-four hours, except when the cadet is 
at recitation. Then the professors, with their assist- 
ants, are responsible for discipline and proper mili- 
tary bearing, and offenses occurring are brought to 
the notice of the superintendent. The military drills 
and exercises are regulated and conducted by the 
commandant. They take place at such regular and 
stated times as give them the character of enforced 
exercises and recreation from study. 

It must be apparent to even a casual observer 
that the tone of the Corps of Cadets will be deter- 
mined by the character and disposition of the com- 
mandant and his associate officers. While it is true 
that no serious mutiny could arise and remain long 
unsubdued, yet it is quite possible that an inefficient 
and weak commandant could work great disaster 
to the moral tone of the Academy. To verify this 
statement it is necessary to know what at present 
exists and has for a long time existed in regard to 
this moral tone. Considering the whole body of 



252 Emory Upton. 

young men as a community, with their customs and 
unwritten laws, which have been passed down year 
by year, from class to class, let us inquire what is 
considered as vital and important in their common 
sentiment. The upper or first class, from whom 
the commissioned officers of the battalion are select- 
ed, represent the accumulated bearing, dignity, and 
experience of the community. The prevailing sen- 
timent of this class is, for the time being, that of the 
corps. They conceive that the good name of the 
corps is in their keeping, and they jealously guard 
it as their own. From past years they have re- 
ceived one thing of prime value — the principle that 
a cadet's word is to be taken unquestioned. To lie, 
prevaricate, or steal, are actions that no cadet could 
be guilty of without at once being put beyond the 
pale of comradeship, and subjected to complete os- 
tracism. Of the commission of such serious crimes 
the authorities would at once be informed by a 
spontaneous impulse, and the most severe manifes- 
tation of wounded personal feeling would be dis- 
played should such a case occur. The perfect trust 
that exists among comrades, their faith in one an- 
other's word, the reliance on one another's charitable 
assistance in distress, all serve to give this trait a 
healthy growth and a real existence. Other viola- 
tions of regulations, such as intoxication, absence 
from quarters, visiting other rooms, smoking, or 
" frolicking," while they may receive no encourage- 
ment from the great majority, are regarded in a 
light altogether different. The punishment may 
fall upon the delinquents, and personal expostula- 
tion may be used among friends, although they are 



Commandant of Cadets. 253 

not crimes, but peccadilloes, as estimated by the 
general sentiment. 

Every year over a hundred young men, between 
the ages of seventeen and twenty-two, come from 
all parts of the country, having habits of all kinds 
— natures that are more or less cultured in morals, 
and tendencies that are as diverse as the conditions 
that have produced them. To bring this large 
fraction of the corps to realize the proper sentiment 
required by the profession of arms, is a labor of 
great delicacy, and yet of the greatest moment. It 
is, therefore, a wise provision that the selection of 
these two officers who bear this great responsibility 
should rest upon the President of the United States, 
and that he should be carefully advised as to his 
nominations for these positions. 

The ideal standard of discipline of the Corps of 
Cadets, and which it seems possible to attain accord- 
ing to the system so admirably designed by Gen- 
eral Thayer, may be described as follows : It is pre- 
sumed and supposed possible, in these days of en- 
lightenment, that every young man entering West 
Point can be made to perceive that he is the recip- 
ient of a nation's bounty, and that his acceptance 
of it places him under an honorable obligation to 
fulfill all the requirements that are exacted of him. 
A denial of this obligation, or a design to evade its 
just requirements, when either becomes evident to 
the authorities, should bring about a separation of 
such an individual from the benefits, and permit 
another to enjoy what he declines. Let us suppose, 
then, that a hundred young men enter, fully im- 
pressed with the solemnity of the important trust 



254 Emory Upton. 

confided to them, and of their obligations under 
that trust. There is no question that, should the 
governing powers be all that they ought to be, such 
a sentiment could be cultivated and supported that 
the regulations, minor as well as important, would 
be obeyed from a sense of duty and a sense of per- 
sonal responsibility. The true function of the oflfi- 
cers on duty at the Academy would then be instruc- 
tion in its broadest sense — instruction in morals, in 
drill, discipline, studies, and, in a broader view, of 
their relations to the Government of the United 
States. 

Violations of regulations would occur of neces- 
sity, but they would only arise from carelessness, 
from forgetfulness, a lack in systematic arrangement 
of mind, and not from intention or deliberate pur- 
pose. Such violations would be attended by cor- 
rective but not punitive measures, and the demerit 
roll would clearly exhibit the very quality of the 
man for which such rolls ought to be established. 
Every violation of regulations should then have 
its appropriate demerit, which should never be re- 
moved if the regulation in question had been broken. 
Is the system of responsibility such as to make this 
a possibility ? Let us see. As a battalion organiza- 
tion the commandant is the colonel or official head. 
Four army officers personally command the com- 
panies ; four cadet officers are appointed as captain 
and lieutenants in each company ; the company has 
also its appropriate cadet sergeants and corporals. 
At drill, parade, or other battalion or company for- 
mations, no violation of regulations can occur with- 
out the notice of a responsible officer. Let him be 



Commandant of Cadets. 255 

held responsible. In barracks, during study-hours, 
the system of divided responsibility is such that 
there is but one of two men who is responsible for 
the preservation of good order. Hold him to it, 
without inquiry as to the actual perpetrator of the 
offense, and this system will yield the best results. 
Let it be understood that the responsibility and its 
punishment for all offenses will be at once placed 
upon the individual who, by his office, is responsi- 
ble, and then there is brought into full power the 
restraining influence of the honorable desire of 
young men to protect their comrades in the dis- 
charge of duty. Punishment means, then, disaster 
to a comrade, and its infliction can only be avoided 
by preventing its cause. 

Under the methods generally pursued, the whole 
energy of the authorities is directed to detect the 
guilty actor, and this calls into being the bold front 
of combination of a governed class against the gov- 
ernors. No matter to which side temporary success 
comes, a feeling of discontent will pervade both 
sides alike while true discipline is impaired. 

Examples of the martinet have been frequent at 
West Point — report and punish being the rule, " in- 
struct and correct " the exception. The delight, 
whether real or apparent, at the detection of some 
trivial breaking of rules is made manifest to the 
certain lowering of discipline. 

It is, therefore, essential that these wards of the 
nation shall be governed while in their probationary 
period of tutelage by just and honorable soldiers, 
who stand in their profession as models worthy of 
emulation. Experience and history both unite in 



256 Emory Upton. 

testifying tliat all cases of real insubordination have 
their origin in the want of tact, narrow-mindedness, 
or inefficiency of the constituted authorities of the 
Academy for the time being. Any other supposi- 
tion as to the cause of such troubles is untenable 
when one considers the vast power which the au- 
thorities may use in the correction of abuses. Five 
hundred and forty dollars a year, affording the 
means of a comfortable support, of a complete 
equipment in clothing, books, and necessary mate- 
rial, for a sound and valuable preliminary education 
for a noble profession, and a guarantee of a com- 
mission in the military service of the United States, 
are the strong levers by which good government 
and a willing obedience can be secured, not only 
from three hundred and fifty young men, but from 
a vastly greater number. Let us, in the light of the 
above, study the career of General Upton while ex- 
ercising his function as commandant of cadets. 

He reported for duty July i, 1870, and took 
command of the corps when it was in camp. His 
brilliant career, combined with his soldierly bear- 
ing, made at once the best impression upon the 
young men confided to his charge, and they soon 
learned that he knew how to command. The mili- 
tary drills improved, the bearing of the cadets 
became more military, and his quick, prompt 
movements found a ready response in their own 
quickened motions. Nothing occurred during the 
encampment to mar the pleasant relationship that 
soon grew into mutual confidence and respect. At 
every drill the commandant was on the ground, 
supervising but not interfering in the functions of 



Commandant of Cadets. 257 

his subordinates. Camp was broken as usual in 
the latter part of August, and barrack and study 
life began in earnest on the ist of September. The 
battalion-drills soon exhibited to the corps that they 
had fallen into the hands of a thorough tactician ; 
and it was not long before the evolutions of this 
organization exhibited a perfection that enhanced 
the pride of the cadets as much as it contributed 
to the pleasure of all the officers of the Academy 
and visitors who witnessed them. 

The utmost harmony seemed to prevail. Minor 
changes incident to all new administrations were 
made without friction, and everything gave promise 
of a successful and peaceful tour of service for four 
years. Thoughts of uninterrupted labor in the 
details of his professional work filled Upton's mind, 
and no one could have predicted the trouble that 
afterward appeared. The January examination was 
approaching, and only minor delinquencies existed 
in the corps. The first serious disturbance of his 
administration occurred on the 2d of January, 1871. 
A brief summary of the circumstances is as fol- 
lows : 

New-Year's-day falling on Sunday, the next day, 
Monday, January 2d, was observed as a holiday, 
and the ordinary duties of the Academy were sus- 
pended. A hop had been granted to the first and 
second classes, and visiting privileges in barracks 
to the third class ; but the fourth class remained 
under the customary restrictions, because its exam- 
ination was to begin at 9 A. M. on the morning of 
the 3d of January. 

Taking advantage of the fact that the majority 



258 Emory Upton. 

of the cadets would not be required to be present 
in their rooms after evening call to quarters, a 
cadet of the fourth class determined to absent him- 
self from his quarters, and, at some risk, visit the 
neighboring village of Highland Falls. In the esti- 
mation of the older cadets, this action would not be 
considered dishonorable, although it constitutes a 
violation of an important regulation, and in case of 
detection would be followed by the serious punish- 
ment of suspension for a year, or complete dis- 
missal. But the cadet went further than this, and 
overstepped the boundary of recognized morals, 
by arranging with his room-mate to falsely report 
that his absence, in case it should be discovered, 
was a permissible and proper one. Discovery did 
follow, the false report was made, its falsity was de- 
tected, and both young men were arrested. Asso- 
ciated with them, another cadet of the same class 
was also detected in a similar action. 

Had nothing occurred to interfere with the 
proper course of justice, the action of the authori- 
ties would have been as follows : Charges would 
have been preferred, and a trial ordered before a 
general court-martial, followed by a sentence of dis- 
missal, in the event of the substantiation of the 
charges. Or the resignation of the cadets would 
have been accepted, to prevent publicity and mor- 
tification to the friends and relatives of the offend- 
ing cadets. A mitigation of the sentence of dis- 
missal might have been made by the authorities at 
Washington, as had been done in several preceding 
similar cases. 

When the facts in these cases were known to 



Com7nandant of Cadets. 259 

the members of the first class, an almost spon- 
taneous feehng of indignation took possession of 
them which carried them beyond the bounds of dis- 
cipHne. They violated the regulations in several im- 
portant particulars. Thus, they met as a class and 
deliberated upon the action they should take. They 
decided to drive these guilty cadets from the Acad- 
emy, and on the following night, at twelve o'clock, 
their determination was put into execution, without 
the slightest suspicion being aroused in the mind 
of any officer of the Academy. At orderly hour on 
the next morning a committee of this class informed 
General Upton of their action, and awaited their 
punishment for the proceedings which they had 
originated and effected. They gave certain rea- 
sons as a justification of their course. They stated 
" that the reputation of the corps had been suffering 
a long time under the imputation that the mem- 
bers were not as truthful or as honorable as they 
had been before, and that too many cases of this 
character had recently come to light ; they be- 
lieved it was necessary to place some seal of con- 
demnation upon such conduct, and therefore they 
had decided as a class that the only way they 
could do that was by telling these persons to leave 
the post — that they would not have them in the 
corps." They stated " that they went to the rooms 
of these cadets and informed them of this, took them 
up the back road near Fort Putnam, gave them 
citizens' clothes, fifty dollars in money to support 
them until they could get assistance from their 
friends, and then told them to leave." They stated 
further " that it was a transaction of the whole class, 



26o Einory Upton. 

that they were alike responsible, and were perfectly 
willing to tell everything that had occurred ireely, 
so that the authorities would be in possession of all 
the evidence and particulars of the affair." 

The commandant immediately reported this to 
the superintendent, and directed the first class to 
submit at once in writing the evidence on which the 
action of the class had been based. He did not 
consider it necessary to put the whole class in ar- 
rest, for the reason that whatever was to be done 
should be done in a very deliberate manner, and 
there was plenty of time to consider what steps 
should be taken in the premises. 

In obedience to the direction of the comman- 
dant the following paper was sent in on the next 
day: 

West Point, N. Y., January 5, 1871. 

Sir : We have taken a step of some boldness, 
but not of precipitation, as we fully considered the 
consequences of our act before accomplishing it, 
and were urged to it by motives which we be- 
lieved to be commendable and to the advantage of 
the Corps of Cadets. 

The evidences against the cadets were taken into 
account and fully weighed, and we thought their 
conduct was such as would justify our course of 
action. 

. . . The events to which the foregoing state- 
ments relate occurred on the 2d day of January, 1871. 
The above is the evidence upon which we acted, 
and it showed conclusively to our minds that such 
men as these were unfit to bear the name and be 
the associates of gentlemen, and were a disgrace to 



Commandant of Cadets. 261 

the uniform which they wore. Moreover, from the 
manner in which some members of the fourth class 
have been conducting themselves of late, and the 
utter disregard of the truth which they have 
evinced, we judged that a severe example was 
necessary to amend this laxity of principle, and that 
were the matter to be conducted by the first class 
it would have a more decided effect upon them than 
would a regular process by the proper authorities, 
for their prevarications would, to a great extent^ 
screen them from the eyes of the latter, while little 
or nothing could be concealed from those who have 
every opportunity of witnessing and hearing of 
their misdemeanors. These are the motives which 
urged us to the conception of our project, and the 
execution of the decided step which we adopted. 
We are, very respectfully, )^our obedient servants, 

Committee 
Representing the First Class. 

On the 4th of January, General Upton dis- 
patched one of his officers to Highland Falls to 
bring the three cadets back to West Point, but they 
had gone, one to Jersey City and the other two to 
Poughkeepsie. On the 5th, word was received as 
to their whereabout, and the same officer pro- 
ceeded by first train on the 6th to Poughkeepsie, 
and brought back two of them. After an interview 
with the commandant, during which he clearly 
stated to them the nature of the charges against 
them for lying, and the character of the proof which 
could be submitted to substantiate the charges, they 
both offered their resignations. These resignations, 



262 Emory Upton. 

not having the consent of their parents, as required 
by the regulations, were, however, forwarded by 
the commandant approved, with the recommenda- 
tion that the requisite parental consent be waived 
in both cases, because of the delay and useless mor- 
tification it would occasion. The resignations were 
accepted, to take effect on January 9th. 

On the loth of January, the superintendent, hav- 
ing fully investigated the matter, issued an order in 
which, while he concedes that the motive which 
animated the members of the first class oripfinated 
from a praiseworthy source, he expressed his strong 
disapproval of their assumption of power, and as- 
signed to them punishment. 

On the 8th of January, a resolution was intro- 
duced in the House of Representatives, and passed 
on the 1 2th, as follows: 

Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs 
be empowered to send for persons and papers to in- 
vestigate said matters of the expulsion and subse- 
quent enforced resignation of certain cadets, and to 
report the facts to the House, with such recommen- 
dation, by bill or otherwise, as the facts, in their 
opinion, may warrant, and the committee shall have 
leave to report at any time. 

The January examinations, which began on the 
3d of the month, were permitted to continue unin- 
terrupted until their close, before the Congressional 
Committee began their investigation. This was in 
accordance with the request of the Secretary of 
War to the Committee on Military Affairs of the 
House. 



Commandmit of Cadets. 263 

Three members of this committee, Joel F. Asper, 
Jasper Packard, and H. W. Slocum, were appointed 
a sub-committee, and on the 27th of January pro- 
ceeded to West Point to investigate the affair. 
They sat two days, and examined all parties con- 
cerned, and on the 7th of February submitted their 
report. 

The principal points in their report, to which 
our attention for the purposes of this memoir is 
needed, are these : 

After stating that the committee found no great 
difficulty in ascertaining the facts in the case, as the 
War Department and the officers and cadets at the 
Academy promptly placed at their disposal every 
means and facility in their power to enable them to 
make a thorough and ample investigation, they re- 
ported the facts substantially as above given. They 
add, referring to the action of the superintendent 
and commandant : 

Nothing further was done with the offenders. 
No arrests were made, no charges preferred, nor 
has any action been taken by the War Depart- 
ment. 

The cadets of the first class engaged in this 
transaction have been kept on duty as before, have 
charge of the cadets in the lower classes as cap- 
tains and lieutenants, and are daily engaged in 
assisting to train and discipline the corps. . . . The 
reasons which induced the sudden outburst of mob 
spirit in the first class seem to be either incompre- 
hensible, or spring from some cause which your 
committee have been unable to fathom. Your com- 



264 Emory Upton, 

mittee examined several of the officers on duty at 
the post, but the only reason they could assign was 
that the authorities there had not been properly 
supported in their efforts to preserve order and an 
enforcement of discipline. The sum of the testi- 
mony on this point was, that discipline at the 
Point was as good as, or rather better for the last 
six months than, formerly. And if this be true, its 
former condition must have been deplorable. The 
officers immediately in charge of the first class join 
in the report that this class have been more than 
usually amenable to discipline ; have had a high 
standing for good and orderly conduct. The offi- 
cers of the Academy knew nothing of the transac- 
tion, nor have they approved or in any way in- 
dorsed it. " In a military point of view " they have 
utterly condemned it. They, however, speak of 
the " motive of the first class as good." Your com- 
mittee have made a statement of all the facts they 
could gather, and they believe them full enough 
for a proper understanding of the transaction, and 
report them to the House in obedience to the reso- 
lution, and it now remains to make such a recom- 
mendation as they believe the facts will demand : 

I. As to the officers, the committee believe that 
the superintendent of the Academy and the com- 
mandant of the Corps of Cadets failed to properly 
appreciate the gravity of the offense committed by 
the first class, and showed a disposition to avoid a 
proper investigation and punishment of the gross 
breach of discipline and violation of regulations 
committed by the class. In their urgent recom- 
mendations for the immediate acceptance of the 



Commandmit of Cadets. 265 

resignations of [the cadets implicated], they disre- 
garded the following regulation of the Academy : 

" Par. 165. A cadet's resignation, if he be under 
age, must be accompanied by a written consent of 
his parent or guardian." 

2. Their conduct in advising these cadets to 
resign before any notice had been taken of, or in- 
vestigation ordered into, the outrage of which they 
had been the victims, is censurable. Their failure 
to take prompt action for the punishment of the 
offending class, by arresting the guilty cadets and 
preferring charges against them for a court-mar- 
tial ; their official expression of a belief that the class 
were actuated by " good motives " in their unlaw- 
ful action ; and their continuance of the first class 
on duty as cadet officers to enforce the discipline 
of the Academy, amount, in the opinion of the com- 
mittee, to a virtual sanction of the riotous proceed- 
ings of the class, and an encouragement of the repe- 
tition of the oifense. The position thus assumed by 
the officers is subversive of the discipline of the 
Academy. It will, if maintained, place the govern- 
ment of the institution in the hands of the first class 
whenever they see fit to constitute themselves the 
judges of the delinquencies of the members of the 
other classes, and will thus destroy all subordina- 
tion and respect for law in the Corps of Cadets. 
The conduct of the officers shows a lack of com- 
prehension of the principles of military discipline, 
surprising in officers of long and honorable service 
in the army. The only thing that can be said in 
extenuation of their action is the fact that their 
efforts to maintain discipline heretofore seem not to 
12 



266 Emory Upton. 

have been properly sustained by the authorities at 
Washington and that sentences of courts-martial 
providing for the dismissal of cadets have almost 
invariably been remitted. . . . 

The published report of the committee contain- 
ing this censure reached West Point February 8th, 
and on the 9th the superintendent and commandant 
addressed the following letter to the inspector of 
the Academy. The letter was written by General 
Upton, and concurred in by General Pitcher : 

The Military Committee of the House of Repre- 
sentatives, in their report to that honorable body in 
reference to the expulsion from the Military Acad- 
emy of [certain] cadets by the first class, having 
charged the superintendent of the Academy and the 
commandant of the Corps of Cadets with having 
"failed to properly appreciate the gravity of the 
offense committed by the first class, and showed a 
disposition to avoid a proper investigation and 
punishment of the gross breach of discipline and 
violation of the regulations committed by the 
class " ; having charged them with the offense of 
having " disregarded the following regulations of 
the Academy : ' A cadet's resignation, if he be under 
age, must be accompanied by a written consent of 
his parent or guardian '" ; having charged that 
" their conduct in advising these cadets to resign 
before any notice had been taken of, or investiga- 
tion ordered into, the outrage of which they had 
been the victims, is censurable ; their failure to take 
prompt action for the punishment of the offending 
class, by arresting the guilty cadets and preferring 



Commandant of Cadets, 267 

charges against them for a court-martial ; their offi- 
cial expression of a belief that the class were actu- 
ated by good motives in their unlawful action, and 
their continuance of the first class on duty as cadet 
officers to enforce the discipline of the Academy, 
amount, in the opinion of the committee, to a verbal 
sanction of the riotous proceedings of the class, and 
an encouragement of the repetition of the offense " ; 
having further charged that " the position thus as- 
sumed by the officers is subversive to the discipline 
of the Academy," and that " the conduct of the offi- 
cers shows a lack of comprehension of the princi- 
ples of military discipline." 

The undersigned, the superintendent of the Mili- 
tary Academy and the commandant of the Corps 
of Cadets, availing themselves of the rights granted 
by the ninety-second article of war, respectfully 
demand that a court of inquiry be ordered to inves- 
tigate their conduct, with a view to being brought 
to trial by a general court-martial should there be 
found to be any facts to sustain the charges made 
against them by the MiHtary Committee. 

At the time the sub-committee Avas at West 
Point investigating the expulsion of the cadets 
named, all the facts connected with their expulsion 
were in the possession of the Honorable Secretary 
of War, the head of the Military Academ)\ 

Without any connection whatever with the un- 
lawful act of the first class, it became the duty of 
the commandant of cadets to prefer charges against 
[certain] cadets for making false reports, or what is 
commonly called " lying." 

As integrity and truthfulness must be the basis 



268 Emory Upton. 

of the character of every worthy and reliable offi- 
cer ; as all frauds, false musters, embezzlements, or 
misapplication of public funds can only be perpe- 
trated under the false certificate of an officer, the 
crime of official falsehood has always been regarded 
as one of the most serious in the military calendar, 
and has no less punishment than dismissal. 

Falsehood was the charge against the three 
cadets. The Honorable Committee state that " two 
of the cadets freely admitted their offenses, and from 
the circumstances, and the character of the boys, 
they do not beheve them destitute of either manli- 
ness or integrit3^" 

As nearly all officers in the course of their 
lives hold positions of great pecuniary trust, the 
superintendent and commandant, in the interest 
of the Government, hold that the vice of lying is 
incompatible with integrity, and that when a ca- 
det is guilty of the offense of falsehood the Gov- 
ernment should be spared the expense of educating 
him. 

The three cadets named admitted their guilt, 
and, as had been often done before, they were, in 
kindness to themselves and friends, advised to re- 
sign to avoid the disgrace inevitably attending a 
trial by court-martial. 

As the responsible parties for good order and 
military discipline, the undersigned feel and know 
that a false impression, diligently cultivated, pre- 
vails throughout the country as regards the disci- 
pHne and subordination of the Corps of Cadets. 
This impression will be strengthened by the report 
of the Military Committee. 



Commandant of Cadets. 269 

Censured without a trial, deprived of all liberty 
of judgment in their ofificial action, charged with 
the grave military offense of sanctioning riotous 
proceedings, their reputation as officers wantonly 
assailed, they feel aggrieved by the unjust treat- 
ment they have received from the Military Com- 
mittee, and are therefore compelled to ask for a 
court of inquiry. 

They furthermore would respectfully request 
that the court be composed of officers of such emi- 
nent services and well-known integrity as shall en- 
title their report to be received with respect, and 
that they be required to express an opinion as to 
whether, in any degree, the superintendent and 
commandant, in the exercise of a discretion always 
allowed commanding officers, have neglected their 
duty, and whether, under their charge, the disci- 
pline of the Battalion of Cadets has degenerated as 
compared with former years. 

The sub-committee was at West Point less than 
twenty-four hours, and in session less than eight. 
Whatever may be said of the conduct of the first 
class, a thorough investigation will show that 
their unlawful action was but a single breach of 
military discipline, neither preceded nor followed 
by the slightest mark of insubordination on their 
part. 

In their official connection with the affair the 
superintendent and commandant are ready to abide 
the consequences of their every official act, and 
desire at once to relieve the stigma cast upon their 
reputations as officers ; or if guilty of neglect of 
duty, or conduct subversive of good order and mili- 



270 Emory Upton, 

tarj discipline, to receive the legal punishment due 
to so grave an offense. 

T. G. Pitcher, 
Colonel First hifantry. 
Brevet Brigadier-General, United States Army, 
Superintendent Military Academy. 

E. Upton, 
Lieutenant-Colonel First Artillery, 
Brevet Major-General, United States Army, 
Commandant of Cadets. 

As the authorities at Washington took no action, 
and as no court of inquiry was ordered in the case, 
it is presumed that they were not dissatisfied with 
the conduct of the two officers throughout the 
whole affair, or did not see how it could be bettered 
by a court of inquiry. The resolution of the Mili- 
tary Committee was never passed by Congress, and 
the matter finally rested. Two of the implicated 
cadets were returned to the Academy in the follow- 
ing June : one became a diligent and praiseworthy 
cadet, graduated with good standing, and entered 
the service ; the other did not ultimately graduate, 
but failed at a subsequent examination. 

The foregoing matter is of interest to us only in 
the light it casts on General Upton's character, and 
the way in which he performed his duty as com- 
mandant of cadets. There can be no question that 
in every respect his dealings with the delinquent 
three cadets were manly and considerate, but not 
in accord with the requirements of the regulations. 
Under no circumstances of personal feeling, or sym- 
pathetic interest, could he overlook a departure 



Commandant of Cadets. 271 

from the truth so glaring as here indicated, without 
deahng a deadly blow to the best interests of the 
Academy. In such cases the individual interests of 
the cadet must suffer, and no plea that it is but the 
first slip, and that it will not recur, should be given 
a moment's consideration. The moral well-being 
of three hundred other young men, and much more 
the official integrity of the whole army, is too price- 
less a trust to be endangered or put in jeopardy on 
any purely personal grounds. 

But his course with reference to the first class is 
open to criticism. He recognized the unlawfulness 
of their action, and no doubt felt the difficulty of 
deciding upon so intricate a case as was presented 
for his judgment. It is only in the light of after- 
events that we are enabled to see clearly the best 
course. It often happens in an orderly and law- 
abiding community that some peculiarly revolting 
crime calls forth almost spontaneously the cry for 
speedy vengeance, and the infliction of lynch law. 
But when the passions cool, and reason once more 
prevails, while the act may be justly condemned, no 
one would in sound reason desire to have the actors 
subjected to the penalty that the letter of the law 
demands. Had the commandant at the first informa- 
tion of the illegal action of the first class promptly 
placed them in arrest, he would by this act at once 
have put his seal of condemnation upon this great- 
est of military crimes. The responsibiHty of their 
punishment or release would have at once been 
transferred to higher authority. Such would un- 
questionably have been the course pursued by an 
officer of less self-reliance or even of less ability as 



272 Emory Upton. 

a soldier than was General Upton. His very quali- 
ties which we esteem and admire caused him to go 
beyond the proper function of his office, for, what- 
ever may have been the action of the superintend- 
ent, Upton should at once have arrested the cadets 
of the first class who made known to him in his 
office what they had done, and followed this action 
by an immediate report to the superintendent, re- 
questing his sanction and confirmation. A court of 
inquiry, at once applied for, would have brought 
out all the facts, and a court-martial have sentenced 
and caused to be inflicted the proper punishment. 

The severe strictures of the sub-committee on 
Upton's conduct do not seem to be warranted by 
an impartial view of the case. He nowhere upholds 
the conduct of the first class, but condemns it. 
Being an official subordinate to the superintendent, 
he was not responsible for their punishment one 
moment after the latter knew officially of the action 
of the class. His position does not warrant any 
interpretation of independency. Responsibility at- 
taches to his office only so far as its functions ex- 
tend. It was the superintendent who, in an official 
order, quahfied the motives of the class as " good," 
although it may be inferred that Upton agreed with 
him in this view. Doubtless the gratification he ex- 
perienced in perceiving the estimate of the class for 
the honor of the corps in respect to truth-telling had 
its influence in Minding him to the enormity of its 
departure from the essential principle of military 
subordination. 

The history of an administration in the govern- 
ment of young men is brief or voluminous accord- 



Commandant of Cadets. 273 

ing as the ordinary routine is unbroken or not by 
incidents that vary from the usual happening-. But 
in either case the important daily work to them 
goes on unceasingly. The time of seed-planting is 
usually quiet and peaceful. It is only when the 
grain has ripened that we can judge whether the 
early spring labor has been thorough or indiffer- 
ent. 

At two o'clock on the morning of the 5th of 
February, 1871, a fire broke out in the Dialectic 
Hall, over the sally-port of barracks. The weath- 
er was bitterly cold, the thermometer marking six 
degrees below zero, and the wind was blowing 
strongly from the northwest. Not more than ten 
minutes had elapsed since the smoldering fire had 
broken out into flames, before the long-roll brought 
every cadet into ranks in the area. The fine effects 
of discipline were soon manifested in the prompt 
and vigorous way in which the whole corps took 
their respective stations to fight the fire. Despite 
these prompt measures the whole upper floor of 
the great stone barrack-building was destroyed, 
but because of their alertness the Academic build- 
ing containing valuable models and apparatus was 
saved, and the ordinary work went on after a sin- 
gle day's intermission. In a congratulatory order 
issued by General Upton, then acting as superin- 
tendent during General Pitcher's temporary ab- 
sence, he says : 

" It is with pleasure that the acting superintend- 
ent announces to the Corps of Cadets his own and 
the general commendation elicited by their action 



2 74 Emory Upton. 

at the fire yesterday morning. No higher proof of 
their discipline could have been given. In the per- 
fect order that prevailed during the whole fire, in 
the cheerful obedience to every order, in endur- 
ance under extreme cold, in the very energy, de- 
termination, and bravery with which they fought 
the flames for three hours, resulting in averting a 
great disaster to the Academy, the cadets have 
given a pledge of gallant devotion to duty which 
the Government can not fail to appreciate." 

During General Upton's tour of duty at West 
Point he had the honor to command the Corps of 
Cadets on a tour away from the Academy. This 
was on the occasion of the second inauguration of 
President Grant, March, 1873. The Secretary of 
War had decided to order the cadets to Washing- 
ton to do honor to the occasion and to express in 
this way his gratification to them for their good 
conduct and marked improvement in military 
bearing and discipline. He took the greatest 
pride in these young soldiers and wished to ex- 
hibit them in their organized capacity to the 
citizens gathered at Washington from all parts 
of the country. The young men acquitted them- 
selves handsomely, and received a perfect ovation 
during their entire visit. They left West Point 
March 2d, crossed the river on the ice, and, return- 
ing on the 7th, recrossed in the same manner — an 
evidence that the weather was not spring-like in 
character. 

Upton's work as commandant may be consid- 
ered in its two divisions ; that relating to the in- 



Commandant of Cadets. 275 

struction in drill and tactics, and that in the devel- 
opment of character and in the cultivation of honor 
and integrity. 

With respect to the first, we may dismiss it in a 
few words. The battalion reached a state of great 
efficiency in its drill. No finer sight can be im- 
agined than the superb marching and exact evolu- 
tion of the cadets under his care, at parade, drill, 
or review. Their splendid physical development, 
their elastic, springy step, erect bearing and sol- 
dierly appearance, happily tempered the rigidity 
and stiffness which usually accompany troops in 
their ordinary movements and evolutions. 

In the more important but less noticeable de- 
partments of education he had himself much to 
learn, and many difficulties to overcome. We have 
seen that at the end of his first six months of duty 
he had the bitter lesson taught him that serious 
trouble may arise when least expected, and that 
existing sentiment can only be modified by patient 
labor and a rational education to a higher concep- 
tion of duty. He found existing a practice, where- 
by pledges were exacted of the fourth class not to 
engage in hazing the members of the next coming 
class, under forfeiture of their furlough privileges. 
A strong disbeliever in such means to enforce right 
action, he, early in the spring, recommended to 
the superintendent the abrogation of the pledge 
system, and asserted his belief that obedience to 
the regulations in this respect could be had from 
higher motives ; and, his recommendation being 
favorably considered, the pledges were never again 
exacted. 



276 Emory Upton. 

It seems to be common, to most of those who 
are charged with the immediate government of 
young men, to wish to know every thought by 
which they are swayed and every act which results 
therefrom — the idea being that, possessed of this 
knowledge, the power they control can best be 
used to reward the good and punish the guilty. 
But they forget that although the Almighty, in the 
possession of this great knowledge, governs man- 
kind by giving to his creatures a perfect exercise 
of free-will, that they may either obey the law to 
their benefit or disobey to their distress, yet he 
has never imparted this great power to any of his 
creatures. The founders of the Academy have 
wisely guaranteed to its pupils the rights and privi- 
leges of trial by court-martial, and the civil law has 
bestowed upon them the rights of freemen, by 
which their privileges are maintained until convic- 
tion under the law is satisfactorily determined. To 
illustrate, it is a matter of history that at one time 
a superintendent, to carry out this principle, in- 
creased largely the number of officers supervising 
the cadets, lodged them in barracks, and required 
them to report every violation of regulations that 
came under their notice. His motive was per- 
fectly pure, for he wished, so to speak, to have his 
eyes upon the corps at all times — to be a father to 
them — to warn them before it became too late to 
save themselves from the consequences of their 
numerous lapses from perfect deportment, and by 
his power of removing demerit to prevent their 
ultimate discharge from the Academy for miscon- 
duct. Yet what was the result ? It could easily 



Commandant of Cadets. 277 

have been foretold by any interested party. This 
^ndue supervision, and what appeared to them 
espionage, broke down at once all sense of per- 
sonal responsibility. Demerit increased frightfully. 
The area of barracks was full, every Saturday after- 
noon, of cadets on punishment for trivial violations 
of regulations, and a false sentiment of duty and of 
responsibility was rapidly permeating the corps, to 
its great detriment. 

The same result is effected whenever a knowl- 
edge of every action going on in a body of young 
men is obtained in any other manner than by the 
open and free inspection of the properly consti- 
tuted authorities. Any attempt to make a comrade 
inform upon his neighbor, unless it is done in the 
line of his duty, is not to be commended, but such 
report must come in all cases from a sense of duty 
and responsibility attaching to the office which the 
reporting officer holds. 

General Upton at one time seems to have held 
views contrary to those expressed above. Deeply 
sensible of the great charge resting upon him, he 
conceived that his duty required him to ascertain 
in cases of marked disorder who were guilty by 
requiring testimony in the matter from comrades 
who might be cognizant of the affair in question, 
holding that, as this course would be warrantable 
in the case of soldiers, it was likewise warrantable 
in the case of cadets. It is to his credit that he 
soon saw the fallacy of his judgment, and forbore 
putting this engine of mischief into action. Had 
he been less liberally-minded, this drag-net method 
of gaining information of whatever abuses might 



278 Emory Upton, 

be prevalent would unquestionably have resulted 
in a degradation of the sense of honor, and have 
made during his administration the temptation to 
deceive and prevaricate greater than it was possi- 
ble for young men to withstand. 

In such a body of young men, where truth, prin- 
ciple, and integrity are valued so highly, it is not 
difficult for any one to live according to his princi- 
ples, be they as pure and high as they may. All 
that is required by the sentiment of the corps is 
consistency in principle and conduct. To the ex- 
istence of this sentiment the fact that so large a 
number of cadets openly profess to be religiously 
inclined, and who are respected in their opinions, 
must be attributed. 

For many years a prayer-meeting twice a week, 
supported and controlled by the cadets themselves, 
and varying in number from fifty to seventy-five, 
has existed. General Upton gave his strong sup- 
port to this organization, frequently met with them, 
encouraged the timid, and supported all by his 
words and countenance. At chapel he was always 
present, and his practical rehgious fife and hum- 
ble Christian profession were potent influences 
to the young men who knew of his marked mili- 
tary success. It exhibited to all of them the per- 
fect compatibility of his life of devotion to his 
profession with his earnest desire to receive the 
instruction and preparation for the higher life to 
come. 

Nothing of especial moment marked the remain- 
der of his career as commandant at West Point. So 
thorough was the confidence reposed in him by the 



Commandant of Cadets. 279 

governing authorities at Washington, that he was 
retained a year beyond the ordinary tour of service, 
or five years in all. His work, taken as a whole, 
was one of marked success. The lessons which he 
instilled into the youthful minds are now being 
applied by his pupils in their career as officers 
wherever the fractions of the army are located. 
None can think of him or of his precepts or exam- 
ple without gratitude for the high-minded, soldierly, 
and Christian earnestness with which he supported 
truth and frowned upon whatever was low and 
paltry. 

In the summer of 1871, General Thomas H. 
Ruger, colonel of the Eighteenth Infantr}'-, suc- 
ceeded General Pitcher as superintendent, and ki 
Upton the new superintendent found a zealous, 
upright officer, and a hearty supporter of his 
government. The Academy continued in a ca- 
reer of well-being that is creditable to both gen- 
tlemen for their sterling ability and judicious gov- 
ernment. 

During all this time Upton snatched every mo- 
ment that could be spared from his exacting duties 
as commandant in revising his tactics, and in the 
duties of the assimilation which had been intrusted 
to the Board of which he was the president. 

His religious growth never ceased. The text of 
hi^ letters home exhibited to those near and dear to 
him how much he dwelt upon the thoughts relating 
to his spiritual life, and how these were the guiding 
principles of his inner manhood. That these may 
bear witness to this side of his character, a few of 
his letters are here inserted : 



28o Emory Upton. 

West Point, January 28, 1872. 

My dear Father and Mother : At the close 
of a quiet and beautiful Sabbath, it again gladdens 
my heart to have the privilege of writing to you, 
and to convey those sentiments of duty and affection 
which I always feel toward you. Filial affection is 
ever the similitude of the tender abiding love we 
owe, as dutiful children, to our heavenly Father, 
who has commanded us to " owe nothing to any 
man, but to love one another." 

Day by day I grow more thankful to God for 
his enduring mercies ; for the preservation which 
he extends to all whom I love. He hath kept you 
to be a blessing to all your children, still work- 
ing out in your lives additional glory to himself. 
Thoughts of eternal life come to me now like water 
to the thirsty soul. I love to meditate on the 
heavenly city where Christ dwells, and is the light 
of those who believe in his mercy. " That which 
thou sowest is not quickened except it die," and as 
the seed sown so shall be the fruit. The seed which 
we must all sow is the life which we have led here 
on earth. If our lives are spent in glorifying God, 
in humbly doing his will, and walking in his ways, it 
will in death be quickened, and again blossom in 
eternal loveliness, and ripen in the continual sun- 
shine of God's love. Purified, we shall then be as 
the images of the heavenly. " What we shall be it 
doth not yet appear; but we shall be like him " in 
whose image we are created. . . . 

May 25, 1873. 

This beautiful day I can not allow to pass with- 
out writing something to you to cheer your hearts. 



Commandant of Cade Is. 281 

West Point is again resuming its beautiful robe of 
summer, reminding those with grateful hearts of the 
goodness and unchangeableness of God, who leaveth 
himself not without witness in that he doeth us 
good, and giveth us rain from heaven and fruitful 
seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. 
Every day of my life my faith in the unseen and 
eternal world grows stronger and stronger. I real- 
ize more and more the nature and sufficiency of 
that sacrifice which our blessed Saviour made upon 
the cross for the sins of the whole world. With his 
everlasting arms to support us we ought always to 
press forward for the mark of the high prize of the 
calling of God, realizing that no yoke is imposed 
upon us, but that in obeying his will and command- 
ments we are walking in the perfect law of liberty. 
I love to dwell upon the glories of the unseen world, 
where, all being in harmony with God's will, there 
will be no need of law ; where love in its fullness 
will unite all hearts in praise of the goodness of the 
Father of us all. 

June I, 1873. 

My dear Mother : * Every word of your last 
Sunday letter has made its lasting impression upon 
me. This morning at church we heard a sermon 
the text of which was so applicable to us that it has 
been running in my mind ever since — " Wait pa- 
tiently." A peculiar tenderness always comes over 
me when I enter the Lord's holy temple, and this 
morning particularly, on which communion was 
celebrated according to the form of our Emily's 

* Mrs. Martin. 



282 Emory Upton. 

blessed church, it seemed as if God in his loving 
kindness permitted her specially to draw near and 
minister unto me. 

It is at such sacred times and in such sacred 
places that I realize the full volume of that tender 
human love which God, who spared not his own 
Son, has removed from me, and it is at such times, 
when in the anguish of my heart I can only say, 
" Thy will be done," that 1 can feel the full import 
and comfort of the words, " wait patiently." Yes, 
my dear mother, wait patiently. The thin curtain 
of mortality only separates us from the love which 
shall be revealed. We shall but imitate the exam- 
ple of him who waits patiently for all to come unto 
him, to triumph over all the sorrows which the 
loving hand of our Saviour sends us. 

I sometimes fear that your happiness is de- 
creased by the proximity of the " hill-side," and that 
the consciousness of being so near the sacred dust 
which you once so tenderly loved leads you to seek 
our precious Emily among the dead and not among 
the living where Christ dwells. Would that the 
angels might speak to you as they spake to the dis- 
ciples who visited the tomb of our Lord, " She is 
not here, but is risen " ! Our hearts yearn for one 
word from her gentle lips, one smile from her beau- 
tiful eyes ; but let us wait patiently, for God will 
bring us to her, when we shall behold her bearing 
the image of the heavenly. Of all the earthly bless- 
ings with which my life has been crowned, associa- 
tion with Emily's pure spirit is the one for which I 
can not express to our heavenly Father the grati- 
tude I feel for the unspeakable gift. Through it he 



Commandant of Cadets. 283 

has led me to the foot of the cross, and to the 
knowledge that the blood of Christ cleanseth from 
all sin. And I feel again that he has sent me the 
spirit of truth, and that he comforts me daily and 
hourly by the presence of the Holy Spirit, which 
bids me wait patiently for the perfect love which 
soon will be revealed. 



CHAPTER IX. 

MILITARY OBSERVATIONS AND STUDIES IN FOREIGN 
LANDS. 

In the fall of 1871 a conversation which General 
Upton had with Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, 
turned his thoughts toward China as a possible 
field of labor in his profession and presented him a 
prospect of substantial advancement and an in- 
crease in his material possessions. He entertained 
no idea of becoming a " soldier of fortune," but 
rather that his talents might be worthily employed 
in developing the military resources of a great em- 
pire, which would react most beneficially upon the 
interests of his own country. Properly appreciat- 
ing General Upton's adaptability, and in hearty 
accord with his ambition, Mr. Seward did not hesi- 
tate to set the wheels in motion, and, no doubt, 
after consultation with the President, and with his 
sanction, he wrote the following letter to our minis- 
ter in China : 

Auburn, N. Y., October 31, 1871. 

His Excellency Mr. Low. 

My DEAR Sir: The observation of political 
affairs which I made in China confirmed me in the 
opinion that I had previously entertained, that it is 
for the interest of civilization to encourage the ex- 
isting government, and lead it gently, though firmly, 



Foreign Military Observations. 285 

in the way of modern progress, in conformity with 
the laws of nations. 

As a necessary part of this pohcy, it seemed to 
me that the Chinese Government ought to be 
shown how to organize its military force on the 
principles of modern science and economy. As 
that government has already adopted Western prin- 
ciples and guidance in the collection of revenues 
derived from foreign commerce, so it seems to me 
that it would be equally wise for them to confide 
the organization, training, and discipline of the im- 
perial army to some competent military man to be 
taken from the West. 

Speaking of this subject with Major-General 
Emory Upton, of the United States Army, I have 
found him not only entirely agreeing with me in 
opinion, but also willing to assume the great task if 
he should be required to do so. 

Although he is quite a young man, he has at- 
tained a most conspicuous place by his brilliant 
achievements in our late civil war, not less than by 
his eminent service as an organizer, tactician, and 
disciplinarian. It was through the exercise of these 
powers that he has been called a year ago to be the 
superintendent of our only national Military Acad- 
emy at West Point. 

Inspired by a high and chivalrous desire to be 
useful where his talents can be best employed, he 
would resign his present position and engage to 
devote himself for five years to the service of the 
Chinese Government in the capacity I have indi- 
cated, with the consent of our own Government, 
and on the application of the Government of China. 



286 Emory Upton. 

This suggestion is made to you by myself through 
the permission of the President of the United States 
and with his favor. 

If in your judgment the suggestion seems a 
practicable one, and you know no reason to the 
contrary, will you in your own way lay it before 
Prince Kung for the consideration of the Chinese 
Government ? 

I think it proper to add that inasmuch as the 
preceding proposal would involve not merely the 
sacrifice of one of the highest positions of the 
United States Army, but also its ultimate advan- 
tage for life, General Upton would expect an in- 
demnity for those losses. Such an indemnity, I 
think, would require a sum not less than $150,000, 
to be paid in hand, together with an annual com- 
pensation and salary for five years sufficient for 
his maintenance in the rank to be assigned to him. 

I am, my dear Mr. Low, with great respect, 
Your obedient servant, 

William H. Seward. 

A careful investigation of the political and so- 
cial condition of China soon demonstrated, how- 
ever, that the time was not yet ripe for this great 
change to be effected. The following letter from 
the American minister, written to one of General 
Upton's friends, gives his conclusions, which had 
been officially communicated in more formal lan- 
guage : 

Peking, February 29, 1872. 

In further answer to your note of the 28th of Oc- 
tober, regarding the feasibility of procuring from 



Foreign Military Observations. 287 

the Chinese Government a position for General 
Upton as " instructor in the art of war," I have to 
say that I can give small encouragement that such 
a thing is probable or possible at the present time. 

That you may the better understand my rea- 
sons for this opinion, some facts in regard to the 
present organization of the Chinese military forces 
may be useful. 

With the exception of the troops immediately 
in and about Peking, the military forces of the em- 
pire are made up of separate armies that have been 
raised and organized by, and are practically under 
the control of, the several high provincial officers — 
each viceroy being held responsible by the Impe- 
rial Government for a suitable quota of troops to 
maintain order within his own jurisdiction, and, in 
case of extreme emergency, to help suppress insur- 
rection or repel invasion in other provinces. Theo- 
retically, all the officers are directly the appointees 
of the emperor; practically, they are selected by 
the several viceroys whose nominations are simply 
approved by the central government. 

At the present time all the foreigners employed 
in instructing troops in the art of war are subject 
to provincial authority and control. They are little 
better in point of rank and position than " drill- 
sergeattts,'' a position which, if not degrading, can 
not be considered honorable. Even General Ward 
and Colonel Gordon, who were employed to as- 
sist in putting down the Taeping rebellion, were 
engaged and paid by the viceroy at Nanking, 
although the Central Government gave to them a 
tacit but not real imperial position. 



288 Emory Upton. 

The arsenals at Shanghai, Foochow, Nanking, 
and Tientsin are exclusively under provincial con- 
trol, and the gunboats that have been built at those 
places and are now in commission are essentially 
under the control of the viceroys within whose 
jurisdiction they were built. 

For more full particulars as to the almost com- 
plete independence of the provinces, I beg to refer 
you to a dispatch of mine to the State Department 
(No. 40, of January 10, 1871). 

In view of this state of things there does not 
seem to be any chance, at present, to secure for 
General Upton a position that I could approve or 
that he would accept, nor do I think that there is 
the least chance for the better until the emperor 
shall have attained his majority and assumed his 
proper functions as sovereign de facto. He may 
then give his attention to reorganizing the military 
forces, for the purpose of creating (what there is 
now only in name) an imperial army. 

Should such a move be made (which is not im- 
possible), there would then be an opportunity for 
an ofificer like General Upton to occupy a position 
that would be respectable for himself and useful to 
the Chinese Government. 

I note what Governor Seward says in his note 
about the monetary indemnity that would be prop- 
er as an equivalent for abandoning the position the 
general now holds in our army ; and, while I can 
not say that the sum named would be extravagant, 
it may be doubted whether it would, in any event, 
be possible to get this Government to accede to 
such terms. This, however, is not important, for. 



Foreign Military Observations. 289 

until there is some change for the better in the 
general status of things here, the whole thing is im- 
practicable. 

This matter has been maturely considered in all 
its bearings, in the hope that some means could be 
devised by which I could see my way clear to 
gratify General Upton's ambition, do a favor to the 
Chinese Government and people, increase our in- 
fluence, and at the same time gratify the personal 
desires of the President and yourself. I regret that 
I am forced to the opposite conclusion for the rea- 
sons herein stated, and many others no less sound 
in my opinion. I have written this with entire 
frankness and freedom, believing that the general, 
as well as yourself, would rather know the exact 
position than to have me hold out hopes that will 
be likely to prove delusive. 

When the emperor assumes the reins of power, 
I shall not fail (provided I am still here) to keep 
this matter in remembrance ; nor will any effort be 
spared to bring about a state of affairs which would 
justify an ofificer of General Upton's character and 
ability accepting a military position under the Gov- 
ernment. I shall inclose a copy of this to General 
Upton. 

The result, however, was of great professional 
benefit to General Upton, for he had, with his usual 
vigor and earnestness, set himself to study the ne- 
cessities of China, and had thought out in an or- 
derly way the proper methods of procedure, in 
case he should be called upon to attack the prob- 
lem ; so that when some years afterward he visited 
13 



290 Emory Upton. 

China in a professional capacity at the head of a 
military commission, and the matter was again 
brought to his attention by Mr. Shepherd, our con- 
sul at Tientsin, he wrote out the following plan 
while he was very much engaged in his laborious 
duties, and sent it with an explanatory letter, at the 
same time expressing his readiness to undertake its 
management : 

Shanghai, October 28, 1876. 

My dear Mr. Shepherd : In pursuance of your 
suggestion, I send you a plan of a Military Academy 
for China. It is, of course, but an outline of the 
main features of such an institution, the details 
being too numerous to mention. I have thought 
much of the subject since seeing you, and the more 
I have observed the condition of the Chinese army 
the more convinced I am that nothing but a mili- 
tary academy can grapple with the difficulty of dis- 
ciplining the fine material she has, and which I 
hardly need tell you lies in her officers. No half- 
way measures will suffice. The thoroughness of 
West Point is required, and, under the system I 
have indicated, it can be attained. ... I am told 
that there are probably from three to four hundred 
boys between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one 
who know sufficient English to begin the course of 
study. But, if not, the invitation of the Govern- 
ment to boys to present themselves for exammation, 
with the promise of a military education if success- 
ful, would stimulate such a number to make the 
effort that the four classes to pursue the course in 
English could easily be selected. . . . 

I have already spoken to you m regard to my 



Foreign Military Observations. 291 

terms, which may seem large, but in return I can 
help to save China millions, and perhaps strengthen 
her for a conflict already impending. But large as 
they are, they would be no temptation to me to quit 
our service without the assurance that I could give 
to China a fine institution. I can not afford to make 
a failure ; and therefore, should you not be able, in 
the event they want the academy, to secure to me 
the management of the course of study, and the dis- 
cipline, I would not take service at any price. . . . 
I would like to help China forward in the way of 
progress, and, should she summon me to her serv- 
ice, I will give to her ten of the best years of my life. 

Plan for a Military Academy for China. 

In view of the powerful and encroaching nations 
of Russia on the North and England on the West, 
also of Japan ambitious in the East, the great want 
of China is an army of not less than one hundred 
and fifty thousand men, organized and equipped 
like the armies of America and Europe, and, above 
all, commanded by officers thoroughly trained in 
discipline, tactics, and the art of war. 

To attain this end a military academy should at 
once be established, based upon the model of the 
United States Military Academy at West Point, 
which is renowned throughout the world, and the 
chief excellence of which lies in giving a uniform 
education to the officers of infantry, cavalry, artil- 
lery, and the staff corps. 

The duties of army officers are so varied that a 
high standard of education and training must be 
required. 



292 Emory Upto7t. 

The engineer officer, who builds forts, makes 
maps, improves the navigation of rivers, erects 
levees, builds bridges, and deals with all kinds of 
constructions in building materials, must have a 
knowledge of all the principles of civil and military 
engineering, and of the sciences on which the appli- 
cation of these principles depends. 

The artillery-officer must know how to make 
cannon, small-arms, powder, and ammunition, so as 
to be able to superintend the erection of arsenals 
and the manufacture of munitions of war. He must 
also be familiar with the theory and practice of ar- 
tillery, so that on the field of battle he may com- 
mand his guns to the greatest advantage. 

The officers of infantry and cavalry, in common 
with those of the artillery and engineers, must be 
familiar with the tactics of all the arms, and, as 
emergencies constantly require them to assume the 
duties of officers of artillery and engineers, they 
should evidently pursue with them the same course 
of study. 

The above considerations indicate a combina- 
tion of scientific and military education as the true 
course of training for an army officer. 

Assuming that the cadet or student has a com- 
petent knowledge of the language in which the 
books are written at the date of his admission, his 
military education may be completed in four years, 
as follows : 

The first year: To be devoted to the study of 
algebra (arithmetic if necessary), geometry, trigo- 
nometry, descriptive geometry, and one language, 
English or French, preferably English. The mill- 



Foreign Military Obsei^vations. 293 

tary education of the first year to consist in prac- 
tical instruction in infantry tactics, involving the 
training of each cadet as a recruit, manual of the 
piece, field-artillery, police of quarters, guard duty. 

The second year : To analytical geometry, de- 
scriptive geometry, perspective, calculus, topograph- 
ical and mechanical drawing, military instruction, 
riding (school of the trooper); infantry tactics, 
school of the company and battalion; artillery, 
manual of the piece of mounted battery. 

Third year : Analytical mechanics, optics, acous- 
tics, astronomy, chemistry, electrics, geology, and 
mineralogy. Military instruction : drill in infantry 
tactics, mihtary signaling ; riding, school of the 
platoon ; artillery, manoeuvres of heavy siege and 
sea-coast guns, and how to mount and dismount 
them. 

Fourth year: Civil and military engineering, 
strategy, tactics, grand tactics (how to move large 
masses of men on the battle-field), strategy, or how 
to move large masses of men when not in sight of 
the enemy ; military drawing, fortifications, etc. ; 
international and military law, and theory of artil- 
lery. Military course : construction of fortifications, 
mines, trenches, fascines, gabions ; artillery, infant- 
ry, and cavalry drills in the highest schools. 

The above is the course to be pursued to secure 
the best and most permanent results ; but it could 
be so modified as to permit officers of infantry and 
cavalry to graduate in three years, and artillery 
and engineers in four years. 

Each year the cadets should be encamped for 
two months to give them mental relaxation after ten 



294 Emory Upton. 

months of study ; also to teach them the practical 
duties of camp-life, such as police, guard, target- 
practice, etc. 

The age of cadets at date of admission to be 
from seventeen to twenty-one. Between these 
limits the mind is in a molding condition, and can 
best be trained in studies and discipline. To com- 
mand with success one must first learn to obey, and 
military obedience, the most exacting and necessary 
of all, is a habit which can not be acquired in less 
than three or four years. 

After mentioning in detail the officers necessary 
for the academy, Upton gives in general terms their 
respective duties. Then follows a list of buildings 
and the material required for the proper accommo- 
dation and instruction of the cadets, all of which are 
found in the model Academy at West Point, which 
has served as his type and basis. He then proceeds 
as follows : 

To inaugurate the system of military and scien- 
tific education, I would respectfully recommend 
that the superintendent of the academy be an officer 
of high rank in the Chinese service. He and his 
staff would be responsible for the construction of 
the buildings, procurement of supplies, instruments, 
etc. 

The commandant of cadets, his four assistants, 
the nine professors and instructors, should be se- 
lected from experienced officers of the American 
Army. 

In consideration of the fact that few, if any, 



Foreign Military Observations. 295 

scientific books used in military education have as 
yet been translated into Chinese, I would recom- 
mend that for the first six years the studies be pur- 
sued in English. This would enable the Chinese 
student to acquire an exact knowledge of each 
study. In the mean time the entire course could 
be translated into Chinese ; the American profess- 
ors would have mastered sufficient Chinese to su- 
perintend recitations, and the classes graduating 
at the end of the fourth, fifth, and sixth years would 
furnish Chinese professors and instructors, who, un- 
der the guidance of the American professors, would 
gradually supersede them and be able to assume 
all of their responsibilities. The class entering the 
fourth year, and all classes thereafter, would pur- 
sue all of these studies in Chinese, and be able to 
master them as thoroughly under native professors 
as did the latter under American professors. The 
advantages arising from teaching the first gradu- 
ates in English would not only be apparent in 
supplying able native professors and instructors, 
but they would also appear in opening to all of 
these classes the entire field of foreign or modern 
science, military history, strategy, and the art of 
war. The graduates, too, would be available as 
translators of books of science and as interpret- 
ers, and could thus keep their government not 
only informed of military progress and achieve- 
ments abroad, but also assist it in foreign diplomacy 
at home. 

In starting the academy on the English plan, 
one year might be gained while the buildings are 
in process of erection, by selecting fifty or more 



296 Emory Upton. 

cadets who already know English, and, if they are 
not to be found in China, that number might be 
ordered back from America. These cadets could 
be started on the course the moment the plan of the 
academy is resolved upon, and would be the first 
class to graduate. At the same time they begin 
the regular academic course, one hundred and fifty 
or two hundred candidates for admission could be- 
gin the study of English, and such of these as at the 
end of the year had made sufficient progress to be- 
gin the academic course would constitute the sec- 
ond class. Two more classes would have to be pre- 
pared in this way, after which, as before stated, all 
other classes would study in Chinese. 

To insure the success of the academy, the cadets 
should receive sufficient salary, board, clothes, and 
be supplied with books, lights, fuel, and should be 
enabled to save enough to purchase an officer's 
equipment on graduation. Besides, they should 
also upon graduation be entitled to a commission 
in the army, with sufficient salary to insure them 
an honorable and useful fife. Without such induce- 
ments, which are offered to armies abroad, cadets 
or students would not subject themselves to the 
severities and hardships of military training. 

The above plan contemplates the establishment 
of a military institution as thorough and permanent 
in its results and influence as the Academy of West 
Point, which I would guarantee within ten years, 
provided the course of instruction and discipline 
for the first six years were left entirely in the hands 
of the American commandant and professors. Dur- 
ing the remaining four years the academy would 



Foreign Military Observations. 297 

gradually be turned over to the manag-ement of the 
native authorities, it being understood from the be- 
ginning that all expenditures should be controlled 
by the Chinese superintendent. The results of the 
academy as proposed may appear too remote ; but 
in connection with the academy a camp of instruc- 
tion might be established, and a brigade, division, 
or even a corps dannc'e, might be organized with 
modern arms, tactics, etc. These troops, as soon 
as organized and drilled (which could be done 
under the supervision of the American ofificers se- 
lected from the Academy), could be sent wherever 
their services are required, and others take their 
place ; or, with an enlistment of five years, all re- 
cruits could be sent to the camp of instruction, 
where they could be trained, drilled, taught the 
bayonet exercise and target-practice, and then be 
sent to their regiments. 

A 3^ear would suffice to organize any command 
as a division or corps, and impart to it a sufficient 
amount of instruction to enable it to fight with suc- 
cess under good officers. 

A camp of instruction for recruits would have 
also this advantage, that cadets after having learned 
the tactics and principles of discipline could be 
used as instructors, thus giving the troops the bene- 
fit of their knowledge, and also giving the cadets 
experience in commanding men even before their 
graduation. The war in America proved conclu- 
sively that a graduate fresh from the Academy was 
able to command a regiment, and many who had 
the opportunity were soon after made generals of 
brigade and division. Such also will be the expe- 



298 Emory Upton. 

rience of China if in the wisdom of her rulers she 
shall establish a similar institution. 

General Upton while at West Point turned his 
thoughts often to the condition of military affairs in 
Europe and Asia, and had many a written and per- 
sonal conference with General Sherman after the 
latter had returned from his military tour abroad. 

From these frequent consultations he found that 
the General of the Army would gladly extend his 
personal and official influence to enable him to 
make an extended tour around the world, so that 
he might, by personal study and observation, make 
himself familiar with matters connected with his 
profession, as they existed among the most promi- 
nent nations of the world. He intended to apply 
for a year's leave of absence, in order to gain this 
important addition to his professional knowledge ; 
but on the occasion of a visit to Washington early 
in October, 1874, after he had had a long conversa- 
tion with the Secretary of War in regard to the affairs 
of the Military Academy, in which the Secretary 
took a deep personal interest, he learned that there 
was every disposition on the part of the authorities 
to give him the advantage of an official tour. By this 
means the avenues to the information which he was 
desirous of obtaining could be the more readily 
opened, and the Government could in return get 
the benefit of his observations, for use in the army. 
The whole matter soon took definite shape, and it 
was finally determined to associate with him two 
other officers, one of the cavalry and the other of 
the artillery arm of the service. These were Gen- 



Foreign Military Observations. 299 

eral George A. Forsyth, major of the Ninth Caval- 
ry, and Major Joseph P. Sanger, captain First Ar- 
tillery. Both were exceedingly capable officers, had 
seen hard service during the civil war, and had been 
noted for their devotion to duty and skill in their 
respective corps. 

The order constituting the commission was is- 
sued June 23, 1875, and, as it outlined the duties and 
controlled General Upton's movements for the suc- 
ceeding eighteen months, it is here inserted : 

War Department, Washington City, June 23, 1875. 

General : On or about June 30th next you will 
be relieved from the Military Academy. 

Upon being so relieved, it is desired that you pro- 
ceed to San Francisco, California, visiting on the 
route to that city Salt Lake City, the mines ot Neva- 
da, and the Yosemite Valley ; that on or about August 
I St you sail from San Francisco for Japan and China. 
On reaching Canton in China you will proceed, via 
Singapore, to Calcutta ; thence up the valley of the 
Ganges to PeshaAver, and thence to the Russian pos- 
sessions at Tashkend, by the most practicable route. 

Should it, however, be found impracticable to 
proceed to the Russian possessions from Peshawer, 
you will select the most feasible route that will en- 
able you to reach Europe. Having arrived in Eu- 
rope, you are required to visit the camps of instruc- 
tion and military schools of Italy, Germany, Aus- 
tria, Russia, France, and England, and thence return 
to the United States. 

The professional object of this order is to en- 
able you to examine and report upon the organiza- 



300 Emory Upton, 

tion, tactics, discipline, and the manoeuvres, of the 
armies along the route mentioned, and in Germany 
the special examination of the schools for the in- 
struction of officers, in strategy, grand tactics, ap- 
plied tactics, and the higher duties in the art of 
war, and the collection and compilation of such 
other information as might naturally be expected 
to be of utility to this Government. 

During your absence upon this duty, which 
shall not exceed eighteen months, you will report 
as nearly monthly as practicable your address to 
the Adjutant-General; and on your return will 
make a full, detailed written report to the Secre- 
tary of War upon all the subjects mentioned in this 
communication. . . . 

You will report to General Sherman for further 
instructions if he desires to give you any ; and you 
will be accompanied by Major George A. Forsyth, 
Ninth Cavalry, and by Captain J. P. Sanger, First 
Artillery, who have been detailed for that purpose. 
Yours very respectfully, 

William W. Belknap, 

Secretary of War. 

Upon reporting to General Sherman, the latter 
addressed him the following characteristic, soldier- 
ly, and friendly letter : 

Headquarters Army of the United States, 
St. Louis, Mo., July 12, 1875. 

General Emory Upton, 

U7iitcd States Army, present. 
Dear General : I have read with pleasure the 
letter of instructions to you by the Secretary of 



Foreign Militaiy Observations. 301 

War, and congratulate you and your associates on 
having an opportunity such as has never, in my 
recollection, been enjoyed by any officers of the 
army at any former period of our history. I know 
that you will profit by it, and only to suggest a few 
thoughts will I venture to use that part of the letter 
of the Secretary which requires you to report to 
me. 

You and I have already had much correspond- 
ence — mostly private — on this very contemplated 
tour of the world, so that I think we mutually un- 
derstand each other. You know that, about four 
years ago, I traveled up the Mediterranean and 
Black Seas to Tiflis, the capital of the Russian Cau- 
casus. Naturally I would like to have you ap- 
proach Europe by that gateway. The objects of 
interest in Japan and China seem to me to have 
been well examined and reported on by modern 
travelers. In like manner, the armies, forts, gar- 
risons, and camps of Europe seem to me to have 
been studied by American officers and authors until 
we know all that seems applicable to our system of 
government and people ; but Asia, especially India, 
Afghanistan, Persia, Khokand, Bokhara, Turkistan, 
etc. — the lands whence came our civilization, whence 
came the armies of Xerxes, Genghis Khan, etc. — re- 
main to us, in America, almost a sealed book, though 
we know that the reflux tide of civilization is setting 
back from Europe to those very lands. England 
and Russia are the two great powers that are now 
engaged in the work, and you can not devote too 
much time and study to the systems of military 
government by which these nations utilize the peo- 



302 Emory Upton. 

pie and resources of interior Asia. I therefore ad- 
vise you to spend as much time as possible in Cal- 
cutta and India ; cultivate the acquaintance of the 
officers, civil and military ; ascertain how a small 
force of British troops, aided by the native troops, 
govern two hundred million people ; notice how 
they quarter, feed, and maintain their men, and 
transport them in peace and war ; then make up 
your mind how to reach the Caspian Sea, preferably 
all the way by land. 

There are several routes : the one I would prefer 
is from Peshawer through the famed Khyber Pass 
to Cabool ; thence to Herat, to Teheran, around the 
lower end of the Caspian Sea to Tabreez and Mount 
Ararat. From Tabreez I know you will have no 
trouble to reach Tiflis, where you meet a highly 
civilized and refined people, with railroad to the 
Black Sea, where you will have choice of routes by 
steamer to Odessa or Constantinople. Another 
route of equal interest would be from Peshawer 
across the Hindoo-Koosh to Bokhara, Khiva, and 
the Caspian. 

Either of these routes will enable you to see the 
nomadic nations of Central Asia, who are far from 
being barbarous, but hold themselves as the most 
cultivated people on earth. Their customs, habits, 
laws, and rules of morality date far behind the his- 
tory of Christianity ; and I doubt not a sojourn 
among them will give you much knowledge that 
will be useful to us as we come to people the inte- 
rior of America. 

Should, however, neither of these routes be 
practicable, you can go by rail to Bombay, and take 



Foreign Military Observations. 303 

steamer to the Persian Gulf, and thence cross over 
to the Mediterranean at Smyrna, or to the Black 
Sea at Trebizond, whence steamers will convey you 
to the more agreeable and more familiar routes of 
Europe. 

I will watch your progress with intense interest, 
and will be pleased to hear from you at any time at 
your own convenience ; and, when you return, I 
shall welcome you back, and do all that is in my 
power to enable you to record your observations 
and publish them for our common instruction and 
entertainment. 

With great respect, your friend, 

W. T. Sherman, General. 

General Sherman also, with his usual hearty 
generosity and kindly feeling, wrote personal letters 
of introduction, commending his brother officers to 
the Governor-General of India, to the Grand Duke 
Nicholas at Tiflis, in the Caucasus, and to other offi- 
cials and friends, bespeaking for them every courte- 
sy and assistance. With these and the properly ac- 
credited official documents they set off well equipped 
for their tour around the world. 

For the purposes of this memoir, extracts from 
General Upton's letters, written to various members 
of his family and relatives, will give a brief outline 
of his journey, and a much better view of his per- 
sonal impressions and thoughts than any compila- 
tion of them could possibly do. For these reasons, 
then, we have culled from his letters those bits that 
serve to reflect him as a man as he journeyed among 
the nations of Asia and Europe : 



304 Emory Upton. 

(Extracts.) 

San Francisco, July 27, 1875. 

The morning of the 20th we crossed the Sierra 
Nevada. The train stopped five minutes at Cape 
Horn, which is said to be a precipice four thousand 
feet high, but which my experience in the Yosemite 
did not confirm. . The view, however, was very- 
fine. At Dutch Flats, on the very top of the mount- 
ains, we saw the effect of hydraulic mining for gold. 
For miles the tops of the hills had been washed off, 
often to a depth of two hundred and fifty feet. 
This is done by conducting water for a long dis- 
tance in pipes with such a head that when the water 
is thrown against the face of a hill, sand, gravel, and 
bowlders fly in every direction. The dislodged 
earth is then conducted through troughs of water 
where the gold settles and is collected. The de- 
scent of the mountains was rapid, and we soon 
found ourselves in the Sacramento Valley, which is 
broad and flat as far as the eye can extend. The 
valley was very dry, and made picturesque only by 
the live-oaks which are scattered over its surface. 

The night of the 20th we spent at Merced, in the 
San Joaquin Valley. This is the great wheat-re- 
gion of California. With one summer fallow they 
manage to get two crops, the first being put in as 
in the East. The second is called a volunteer crop, 
which is put in by simply harrowing the stubble of 
the first crop, the shelled wheat furnishing the seed. 
The wheat-fields cover thousands of acres. The 
harvesting is done by a machine called a " header," 
which merely clips the heads, that are afterward 



Foreign Military Observations. 305 

threshed. These machines will cut from twenty- 
five to fifty acres per day. 

The morning of the 20th we took outside seats 
on the stage for the Yosemite ; the night we spent 
at Clarke's ranch, at the Big Tree Station. 

The morning of the 21st we took horses, and 
rode over to the Mariposa group of big trees. 
These were all they had been represented. The 
Grizzly Giant was one hundred and two feet in cir- 
cumference, or about thirty three feet in diameter. 
One limb was estimated to be eight feet in diame- 
ter, or twenty-four feet in circumference. The 
trees are about three hundred feet high, and as 
straight as arrows. By the side of them pines one 
hundred feet high look like riding-whips. Perhaps 
a better idea of their size will be conveyed by 
stating that we rode on horseback through the hol- 
low of one which was lying down, and also through 
the roots of one which had been partially burned 
out standing. 

In a portion of one of the standing trees which 
had been burned out we concealed our four horses, 
and there was room for four more. Hidden in the 
tree we could have charged any unwary foe that 
might have crossed our path. There were about 
one hundred trees in the Mariposa group, most of 
them in fine preservation. Their age is supposed 
to be between four and five thousand years. 

Returning to Clarke's, we took an open carriage 
for the valley, twenty-three miles off, where we ar- 
rived about six o'clock in the afternoon. 

This valley was undoubtedly formed by an 
earthquake, which, in rending the mountains, made 



3o6 Emory Upton. 

a chasm seven miles long and many thousand feet 
deep. This chasm has gradually filled up by falling 
rock, until the bottom of the valley is now within 
four or five thousand feet of the top, the width be- 
ing about a mile. On our left, as we entered the 
valley, stood El Capitan, a perpendicular mass of 
granite thirty-one hundred feet high. On our right 
were the " Three Graces," thirty-seven hundred feet 
high. A little farther on our right was the Bridal 
Veil Fall, nine hundred and forty feet. As its wa- 
ters dashed into spray, the rainbow-colors played 
in masses of red, pink, and golden light, blending 
beauty and grandeur in a harmony enchanting to 
the soul. We passed the night at the Yosemite 
Hotel, and on Friday morning we took horses and 
guides and rode to Mirror Lake. In this little 
sheet of water, three acres in extent, embosomed in 
a mighty amphitheatre, are reflected, as in a mirror, 
the almost vertical wall of South Dome, five thou- 
sand feet high ; Cloud's Rest, six thousand four 
hundred and fifty feet ; North Dome, thirty-seven 
hundred feet; and Glacier Point, thirty-two hun- 
dred feet. As we stood on its western edge, the 
sun rose, gilding the peaks with streaks of gold, 
which, with softened effect, were reproduced in the 
placid lake. From the opposite side of the lake the 
pale moon, still hovering over the valley, as if loath 
to quit the scene, reflected its silver image in the 
water. It seemed as if the mirror were held in 
God's own hand, that we might doubly admire his 
marvelous works. 

Quitting the lake, which will ever be a gem of 
recollection, we returned to breakfast, and then 



Foreign Military Observations. 307 

rode to the Yosemite Falls, the first of which is six- 
teen hundred feet, the second six hundred, the third 
four hundred feet. At the base of the third we 
could look up and see, apparently, one fall of 
twenty-six hundred feet. The effect of all this 
grandeur can not be described. One must visit the 
valley to realize it. In the afternoon we started for 
Snow's, who, with great labor, has built a house on 
the plateau, between the Vernal and Nevada Falls. 
The canon was inexpressibly wild. Arriving near 
the foot of the Vernal Falls, four hundred feet, we 
left the horses, and toiled up a rugged path to the 
summit, near which we found Snow's house, which 
was, indeed, founded on a rock. Immediately above 
the house was the Nevada Fall, seven hundred feet 
high. Here we again found ourselves in a vast am- 
phitheatre. Taking my seat among the rocks at 
the base of the Nevada, I watched the beautiful, 
ever-varying colors of the rainbow until the sun 
went down, when I returned to the house. Near 
by they showed me where a rock weighing thou- 
sands of tons fell during the earthquake three or 
four years ago. A hundred people were dining at 
the time, most of whom fled with precipitation as 
soon as the clouds of dust permitted them to grope 
their way. High upon the face of the Cap of Lib- 
erty a white patch marks the place from which the 
rock fell, breaking itself into atoms as it reached 
the valley below. The next morning, July 24th, we 
took horses and climbed the mountain to Glacier 
Point, which overlooks the entire valley. From its 
summit projected a rock about the size of a dining- 
table. Creeping on all-fours, I reached the very 



3o8 Emory Upton. 

•i 

edge, and, peering cautiously over, I found myself 
looking down a precipice thirty-four hundred feet, 
or twice the height of Cro' Nest at West Point. 
Had I fallen I would not have struck the rock 
within two thousand feet, while what would have 
remained of me would have been found thirty-four 
hundred feet below. The Merced River meandered, 
like a silver thread, at our feet. To our right were 
the Vernal and Nevada Falls, in front were the 
North and South Domes. To the left were Yosemi- 
te Falls, and still farther El Capitan, like a mighty 
sentinel, guarded the approach to the valley. 

From Glacier Point we went to Sentinel Dome, 
forty-five hundred feet high. Here we had our last 
view of the valley, while beyond the Sierra Ne- 
vadas were spread out like a panorama. 

From here we went to Clarke's ranch, and on 
Monday, the 26th, arrived in San Francisco. The 
city resembles Chicago, both in its people and the 
character of its buildings. The climate is a phe- 
nomenon. The day before our arrival, while riding 
comfortably on the outside of the stage, the ther- 
mometer was 106° in the shade. The air was so 
dry and pure, and the evaporation so rapid, that 
there seemed to be no tendency to perspire. On 
arriving at Oakland and San Francisco all was 
changed. Ladies were seen in furs, and gentlemen 
were wearing beaver overcoats. Every morning, 
at this season, heavy fogs hang over the city, which 
clear away about 10 A. M. The rest of the day the 
sun shines brightly, the temperature being comfort- 
able most of the time for a spring overcoat. In fact, 
people here say that the summer is apparently 



Foreign Military Observations. 309 

colder than the winter, and therefore they wear the 
same upper and under clothing the year round. 

Great Republic, 
Latitude 36° 30' north, Longitude 178° east, 
Atigust 15, 1S75. 
Thirteen days at sea, and yet only in mid-ocean. 
This will give you some feeble conception of the 
immense area of the Pacific. I wish you could see 
our beautiful ship as she moves majestically over 
the waters. While there is always a heavy swell, 
we have had nothing approaching a rough sea. 
The time is passing rapidly and pleasantly. When 
we came on board we appropriated twenty-four 
days to the voyage, and now, in this floating city 
we pass the time as we would at any place where 
we had resolved to spend a month. I have never 
seen anything like our present experience in travel. 
It is like the Fifth Avenue Hotel launched on a tour 
around the world. Our table is delicious. We 
have had no excitement except yesterday morning, 
when a ship in distress signaled us. We immedi- 
ately lay-to, when an officer came on board and an- 
nounced the fact that, having been out for sixty 
days from the Feejee Islands to San Francisco, the 
vessel was out of provisions. They were not, how- 
ever, in danger of immediate starvation, as we found 
out that the cargo was composed of oranges and 
cocoanuts. In my portfolio there is a letter from 
on the subject of China. That dream, as I ap- 
proach the Flowery Kingdom, loses none of its en- 
chantment. I am still open to propositions from the 
Celestials, but shall not accept any which do not 
promise a fortune. The fact is, I have been very 



3IO Emory Upton. 

anxious to have Mr. Stewart endow a national uni- 
versity, on the principle of West Point, with the 
munificent sum of ten millions, but I have now con- 
cluded that I would like to make that sum, and then 
establish the institution myself. There are, it is 
true, some difficulties in the way, but, after having 
organized a large imperial army, I may be able to 
convince Prince Kung that railroads will be neces- 
sary to transport troops, suggest to him that my 
large experience in riding on railroads will enable 
me to build them, and thus find myself a railroad 
king as well as a military mandarin of high rank. 
If successful in this part of my programme, I feel 
sure we shall have a national university. 

Steamer Great Republic, 
Latitude 36° 3', Longitude 180°, 
August 16, 1875. 

The full moon looks down benignantly upon our 
floating palace as she glides slowly over the calm 
Pacific. To-day is our fourteenth at sea, yet no one 
seems ennuied. We have all settled down to pass 
so long a time on board, and for aught I see the 
days come and go as rapidly afloat as on shore. I 
am using every moment of my time either studying 
French, or else reading up the history, manners, and 
customs of the countries we are to visit. 

We have only two ladies, one the wife of an offi- 
cer of the navy, and the other the wife of a citizen. 
The latter is, in my judgment, not the loveliest of 
her sex, but seems to be an impulsive, warm-hearted 
creature, one moment all smiles, and even boister- 
ous in her mirth, the next pouting and humbling 
her husband, who bears her freaks with patient 



Foreign Military Observations. 311 

resignation, knowing that in a moment the cloud 
will be dissipated, and that, regardless of company, 
she will smother him with ill-timed caresses. Each 
lady has her child ; each child is a son, and each 
son has for a nurse his devoted father. I have 
never known children to be so well cared for. They 
live on condensed milk, and laugh and crow lustily 
from morning till night. A little girl, ten years old, 
daughter of the new consul at Canton, is the belle 
of the vessel. Navy officers, army officers, cosmo- 
politans, globe-trotters, all pay her attention and 
promenade with her with as much apparent pleas- 
ure as with a young lady of twenty years. 

To-night will occur a painful event in the history 
of every passenger on board, for, as we shall cross 
the one hundred and eightieth meridian from Green- 
wich, we are to drop a day. Tuesday, the 17th of 
August, we are to drop from our calendar. We go 
to bed Monday, the i6th, and wake up on Wednes- 
day, the 1 8th. Were we sailing the other way, we 
should have had two Tuesdays. 

Latitude 35° 15' north, Longitude 158° east 
August 22, 1875. 

This is our last Sunday on the calm Pacific. 
The day has been almost as beautiful as with you 
on the Owasco. I have made the day one of rest 
so far as intermitting my ordinary reading, but 
other reading has engaged my attention. As we 
are going to the lands of dense populations, it is 
necessary to read up the different religions, so to- 
day I have looked into Buddhism, Confucianism, 
and then into Christianity, as presented in the cy- 



312 Emory Upton. 

clopasdia. To the latter the soul returns and finds 
rest and peace. To-day I have been deeply im- 
pressed by the relation of our Saviour to the world 
as the uniting link between the human and the di- 
vine, making through the indwelling of his Holy 
Spirit our bodies the real temples of the Holy 
Ghost. 

The Great Republic loses none of its attractions 
on a longer acquaintance. Last night Captain Cobb 
invited us to make the inspection with him. The 
ship was in perfect order and a model of neatness. 
The kitchen was particularly to be commended. 
In this large city the one hundred sailors and two 
hundred and seventy-five Chinamen never come in 
our way. We may go into their quarters, but they 
can not come into ours. 

Yeddo, September 7, 1875. 

As we are to observe military affairs rather than 
spend our time sight-seeing, we lost no time in 
crossing to Yeddo, where we arrived on Monday, 
August 30th. We laid our papers before Mr. 
Bingham immediately, but not until Thursday did 
he communicate with the Minister of War, who ap- 
pointed Sunday as the day of our reception, I did 
not like this, but of course went, and had a very 
agreeable interview, an interpreter serving as a 
medium of communication. He appointed Wednes- 
day as the day on which the troops would be re- 
viewed before us, and Tuesday as the day on which 
a Japanese general would disclose the organization 
of their army. The poor man came this morning, 
and we had satisfaction for all our delay, for we 
kept him six hours and tortured him with questions 



Foreign Military Observations. 313 

which would have puzzled a " Herald " interviewer. 
Application has been made for presentation to the 
Mikado, but between Japanese Sundays, every fifth 
day, and official circumlocution, I fear we will be 
on our way to Peking before the pleasure of his 
Majesty is known. 

We have been treated with great kindness by all 
of the American residents, who invite all three of 
us and many friends to meet us at tiffins and dinners 
and other entertainments, but all this consumes 
time, which is precious when so much is to be 
seen. 

The Japanese people I like exceedingly, and so 
do all who associate with them. They are polite, 
affable, light-hearted, gay, and affectionate, and, 
while sunk in many of the vices of heathenism, have 
nevertheless some of the nobler traits of Christian 
character. Children are never scolded, and from 
the infant to the aged all seem to be happy. 

A few days since I went to the Temple of Asa- 
kura, and there saw the people cast their gifts into 
the treasury, and then go and kneel down to wood 
and stone, the work of men's hands. The god of 
pain, a wooden image, had lost nearly all of his 
features by the rubbing he had received in the hope 
that to touch the image in the part corresponding 
to the part of the body affected, and then apply the 
touch to the diseased part, would insure relief. It 
was a sad sight, but I can not believe it will continue 
long. I have seen evidences of depravity too re- 
volting to be mentioned, which nothing but God's 
power can arrest. The religion of love and the 
hope of eternal life through the Saviour can alone 
14 



314 Emory Upton. 

awaken the people to a consciousness of their sins 
and an amendment of their lives. 

Japan is steadily progressing toward stable and 
well-regulated government. No reaction is feared, 
and the people seem to appreciate many European 
manufactures and customs. The Tokido, or main 
street, is being rebuilt in European style, and the 
stores are full of European articles. For instance, 
our umbrella is entirely superseding the flat paper 
umbrella: you will see ten of the former to one of 
the latter. A Japanese city is expected to be de- 
stroyed by fire every fifteen years. If Yeddo should 
not be an exception, it will shortly look like a West- 
ern capital. Already it has gas in the streets, and a 
stage-line, the sure forerunner of the street-car, is 
running on the Tokido. But all this is material 
progress, and I feel equally sure spiritual progress 
will keep pace. The fullness of time is approaching. 
Idols are falling down, superstitions are giving way, 
but the human heart endures, and must fix its affec- 
tions on Him who gave his body a ransom for all. 
I am not discouraged ; one needs only to visit a 
heathen land to admit the necessity of Christ's mis- 
sion of peace and good-will toward men. 

Yeddo, September 8, 1875. 

I am waiting for an officer to come and escort 
our party to a grand review, and will improve the 
time in sending you a few thoughts. 

We are having a delightful time — never better. 
Socially we are dined and tiffined (lunched) a little 
too much, but a large-hearted generosity makes us 
feel that we are welcome. The country is beauti- 



Foreign Military Observations. 315 

ful ; every landscape is a solace to the eyes. The 
people are amiable, and so polite as to make us wish 
we could imitate their manners. The servants are 
the best. Houses are never locked, trunks can be 
left open, jewelry and curios exposed, and neverthe- 
less nothing will be stolen. It is rather startling to 
a foreigner on a hot day to see nothing but bare 
heads, bare arms, bare bodies, and bare legs. As 
one judges of the density of a crowd by the up- 
turned faces, you can imagine that this sans-souci 
exposure of the person gives to a street the appear- 
ance of being alive with human beings. You must 
not imagine that all of the Japanese go about in this 
manner ; many, and by far the great majority, wear 
dresses and robes very becoming to them. The 
children seem to enjoy the liberty of dress more 
than any one else. Up to four and five years old 
they run about regardless of appearances. On our 
way to the great image Dai-Butsu they stood in 
the streets in rows as naked as when they were 
born, saluted us with " Ohio ! Ohio ! " and crowed 
as lustily as so many young roosters. 

September 8, 1875. 

Yesterday we had a fatiguing day — a review of 
six battalions of infantry, a squadron of cavalry, and 
three batteries of artillery. The Minister of War 
met us on the ground, and, after the review of in- 
fantry was over, excused himself till we had seen 
the artillery, engineers, and arsenal, when he met 
us in the garden of the late Prince Mirto, where a 
beautiful breakfast was served. There were two 
French officers present besides our own party. The 



3i6 Emory Upton. 

Vice-Minister of War was of the company. The 
house (Japanese) was one hundred and eighty years 
old. The grounds were the perfection of landscape- 
gardening. In one part was a miniature temple, 
representing the oldest temple in the empire, at 
Kioto, and a lake, the facsimile of a lake in China. 
There was also a small Niagara, to which our atten- 
tion was specially called. The dinner — for such in 
fact is every tiffin — was served in French style. 
Conversation was not so rapid as when interpreters 
are not required, but still we got on very well. 
After breakfast (12 M.) we went to the barracks, 
hospitals, etc., which surpass anything we have in 
America, and then went to Yokohama, where we 
three dined with General Van Buren. There were 
present the ministers of Italy, Belgium, and Eng- 
land, so that it might be termed a swell affair. 

SeJ>tember 9, 1875. 

Military labor and festivities are very exhaust- 
ing. We sail Saturday for Hiogo, stop over there 
a week for the purpose of visiting Osaka and Kioto, 
and then go direct to Shanghai and Peking. 

Hiogo, September 19, 1875. 
Since writing you our party has been to Kioto, 
the capital of the Mikado for the last eleven hun- 
dred years. The city basks in a beautiful valley, 
surrounded by mountains which are covered with 
Italian verdure. As we looked upon the city from 
a lofty pagoda it seemed as if the smile of Heaven 
rested upon the plain, teeming with life and anima- 
tion. We visited several of the large temples, in 



Foreign Military Observations. 317 

which solemn stillness prevails, only broken when 
some worshiper rang a bell to awaken his god. In 
one temple there were one thousand distinct gilt 
images of Buddha. We sail to-morrow for Naga- 
saki and Shanghai. All of October will be con- 
sumed in the tour to Peking, and en route to Hong- 
Kong. My health is good, notwithstanding I have 
never worked harder. 

Steamer Costa Rica, 
Between Nagasaki and Shanghai, 
September 23, 1875, 

Tuesday morning, at three o'clock, we started 
on steamer Costa Rica for Shanghai. The sail to 
Nagasaki was the most beautiful I have ever seen. 
The Inland Sea is two hundred and eighty miles 
long and from four to twelve broad. Its shores are 
bounded by mountains from one thousand to seven 
thousand feet high, while the sea is studded with 
rocks and islands, sometimes two thousand to three 
thousand feet above its level. The conical shape 
prevails among the islands, many of them resem- 
bling in grace of outline the sacred Fusiyama. 
Many of the peaks are covered with a crown of 
verdure, while the slope descends in cultivated ter- 
races to the base, where nestle the thatched roofs 
of villages and hamlets. In the distance we could 
frequently see castles perched on rocks, looking 
down menacingly upon the cities at their feet. But 
the sea can not be described. It is the Hudson, 
with its Highlands; the St. Lawrence, with its 
Thousand Islands ; Lake George, with its mountain- 
peaks, all overspread by an Italian sky, so soothing 
that the soul seemed to bathe in rivers of pleasure, 



3i8 Emory Upton. 

and to repose in the fields of Elysium. As the 
steamer glided through the tortuous channels, each 
turn of the wheel gave fresh delight, yet tinged 
with regret that the floating scenes of beauty were 
every moment becoming only themes for recollec- 
tion, anticipation, enjoyment, remembrance, of ever- 
varying and changing views. Such was our voyage 
on the Inland Sea. 

Shanghai, October 24, 1875. 
This brick and mud city is the capital of the 
province of Chihili, of which Li-Hung Chang, the 
most powerful subject of the empire, is the viceroy, 
or governor-general. The only object of military 
interest is the arsenal, built by an Englishman named 
Meadows. It is inclosed by an earthen wall or 
parapet for defense, and occupies a mile square. 
At present only Remington cartridges, powder, and 
shell for cannon of different calibers, are manufact- 
ured, but machinery for Remington rifles is being 
erected. 

In visiting any official in China you are invited 
into a room, simply furnished with round or square 
tables, stools, or mats, and are then invited to take 
tea, which is always clear and of the best quality. 
This ceremony completed, you can proceed to busi- 
ness. After our inspection of the arsenal, we were 
invited to dine with the quartermaster-general of 
the viceroy. Putting on all our war-pamt, with 
our vice-consul as interpreter, we proceeded within 
the walled city, and arrived at his residence at four 
o'clock, p. M. The furniture of the dining-room was 
the same as I have already described, all the dishes 
being served on a round table without a table-cloth. 



Foreign Military Observations. 319 

We were provided both with chop-sticks and knives 
and forks, but the dinner was exclusively Chinese. 
The courses were so many, and the dishes so nu- 
merous, that I can not do better than give you a 
bill of fare of a dinner we ordered at a Chinese res- 
taurant at Peking as the most faithful approach I 
can make to a description : 

CHINESE DINNER — BILL OF FARE. 

First Course. — Tea. 

Second Course. — Consisting of fruits and sweet- 
meats, viz. : lotus-seed fried ; watermelon-seed ; green 
dates ; prunes ; apples dried in honey ; English wal- 
nuts ; fresh apples ; pears and grapes. This course 
remains on the table throughout the dinner. 

Third Course. — Shrimps ; Mongolia ham, boiled 
and cut up in small slices ; chicken ; wine made of 
rice. The wine is served hot in small glasses. Every 
time the servant passes it, if any remains in the 
glasses, it is poured back into the common reservoir, 
and again poured back into the glasses. This is 
another instance of Chinese economy. 

Fourth Course. — Pickled eggs (these are buried 
for years in clay and salt, and undergo a species of 
decomposition, making them when exhumed resem- 
ble a dark gelatinous substance — taste them, '* like a 
little man ! ") ; pickled lotus-root ; skin of duck's feet 
boiled ; pickled sea-weed. Note. — In Chinese cook- 
ery articles are always pickled in salt, never in vine- 
gar. 

Fifth Course. — This course was preceded by 
changing our paper napkins, and consisted of 
plover's eggs stewed with shark's fins and clabbered 



320 Emory Upton, 

milk (delicious); duck-kidneys; sea-weed; jelly; 
bamboo-shoots. 

Sixth (^.^^r^^.— Fish-sinew soup ; mushrooms and 
water-chestnuts stewed ; stewed fish ; tripe ; stewed 
prawns ; chicken stewed in jelly. 

Seventh Course. — Duck smothered in jelly (deli- 
cious) ; jelly pate ; fluid fat-meat hash. 

Eighth Course. — Duck-feet-skin stewed ; stewed 
mushrooms; stewed snails. (We bound ourselves 
to taste of every dish.) 

Ninth Course. — Fish smothered in vinegar and 
jelly (good). 

Tenth Course.— '^lQ?it dumpling ; onion omelette. 

Eleventh Course. — Vermicelli-soup. 

TzvelfthCourse. — Stewed chicken; vegetable soup, 
with hashed-meat balls ; pork smothered in flour. 

Thirteenth Course. — Rice-soup ; boiled rice ; bul- 
lock's blood thickened ; salt pickles. 

Fourteenth.— ^Q go to another table, and are 
served with tea and cigars. — Finis. 

The dishes are generally brought in in small 
bowls, one or more at a time. Each guest dips his 
chop-sticks into the common dish, and eats directly 
from it, or transfers what he wants to a small saucer 
and then eats. It would be like placing one dish in 
the middle of a table, and then each one eating from 
it with a fork. The dinner with the quartermaster- 
general was interspersed with conversation on guns, 
cannon, tactics, army organization, etc. The saki, 
or sam-shu, as harmless a^ boiled milk, flowed freely. 
Our amiable host proposed healths often, and after 
each one showed us the bottom of his glass. When 



Foreign Military Observations. 321 

we arose from dinner it was quite dark. Four 
soldiers, with lanterns, lighted us home, running- 
swiftly before our horses. 

As we came out into the street an enterprising 
reporter of a Chinese paper interviewed us, and I 
have no doubt, could we have read his report, we 
would have been pleased with his description of the 
foreign visitors. 

This dinner was only preliminary to another. 
At eight o'clock we dined with the officers of the 
United States steamer Monocacy. These naval 
heroes were rather forlorn over the prospect of 
being frozen up for three months in the Peiho. 
Since the Tientsin massacres, foreign gunboats stay 
at Tientsin summer and winter. We left Tientsin 
at 8 A. M., and arrived at the Taku forts, at the 
mouth of the river, at 2 P. M. Here we went ashore 
to inspect the fortifications. Word had preceded 
us, so when we arrived everything was in readiness. 
Flags floated upon the parapets of all the forts, 
while at the wharf and along the route to the quar- 
ters of the commanding general no less than a hun- 
dred banners floated from staffs supported by faith- 
ful soldiers of the empire. " Terrible as an army 
with banners " was our first impression. Neverthe- 
less, without palpitation we landed, rolled ourselves 
into carts, and proceeded along a line of troops. A 
battalion of ten companies was paraded, the com- 
panies presenting arms successively. On approach- 
ing the sally-port a salute of three guns was fired. 
With this we had to be satisfied, as it is the highest 
salute in the empire. Troops without arms were 
arranged in line in front of the general's quarters. 



322 Emory Upton, 

who came out, shook his own hands, then shook 
ours, and motioned us to enter his quarters. Hav- 
ing been served with tea, we went to see the fort, 
which is of mud or clay, made hard by poundino-. 
Three or four Krupp guns, mounted upon cavaHers, 
overlook all the other guns of the fort. A German,' 
Mr. L. Meyer, instructs the Chinese in the use of 
their muskets. It was in front of these forts, clumsy 
as they appear, that three or four English gunboats 
were sunk years ago. An attack from the sea-front 
was also bloodily repulsed. On another occasion 
these forts were taken from the rear, which the 
Chinese regarded as a very cowardly proceeding. 
After looking at the fort, we had taken our seats for 
another Chinese dinner, but the whistle of the 
steamer brought our visit to a close. We went 
back amid a display of banners, the roar of cannon, 
the clangor of trumpets, invited our hosts to Amer- 
ica, bade them adieu, and, Columbus-like, sailed 
fearlessly to sea. Throughout our visit we have 
been treated courteously by the authorities. Prince 
Kung and the foreign ministers received us three 
days after our arrival; the viceroy and Li-Hung 
Chang called on us at the American legation, and 
sent his secretary, who goes as associate minister 
to England, to receive us at the arsenal and the 
Taku forts. From this you can see that our official 
experience has been delightful. From here we go 
to Hong-Kong, Canton, and Calcutta. 

Steamer Kashgar, November 13, 1875. 
To-day finds us en route from Hong-Kong to 
Singapore ; and, as at sea we have plenty of time, I 



Foreign Military Observations. 323 

must take up the thread of our travels, which was 
interrupted at Shanghai. On October 26th I went 
up the Yang-tse River as far as Chinkiang, one 
hundred and fifty miles from the mouth. At this 
point the Grand Canal crosses the river, making 
Chinkiang a great commercial center. The river is 
muddy hke the Mississippi, and at some points is 
ten miles wide. At Chinkiang there is little of in- 
terest, except an iron pagoda, claimed to be seven- 
teen hundred years old. I saw a few troops, dirty 
and ragged, armed with the old smooth-bore mus- 
ket. The hills around the city are covered with the 
graves of the soldiers killed in the Taiping rebel- 
lion. A conical mound about three feet high marks 
each resting-spot. On the side of a sunken road, 
one of the coffins projected. Upon it the surviv- 
ing friends sometimes place rice for the deceased. 
After his spirit is refreshed, beggars, and even dogs, 
eat what is left. I returned to Shanghai on the 
28th, and on the 29th took the beautiful steamer 
Ava, of the French Mcssagcric, for Hong-Kong, 
where we arrived Monday, the ist, at 6 a. m. The 
voyage was pleasant, though somewhat rough. 
For the first time, since leaving San Francisco, we 
were compelled to use racks at the table. On No- 
vember I St we visited our consul, Mr. Baile}^ and 
arranged to call upon the governor, and General 
Colborne, commanding the forces. The governor 
was too ill to receive us, but we had a pleasant in- 
terview with the general, who invited us to tiffin 
the next day — a pleasant occasion, at which we met 
several officers of the Eightieth Regiment. Wednes- 
day, November 3d, we took the steamer for Can- 



324 Emory Upton, 

ton, arriving there at 3 P. m. Mr. Geary gave me 
a letter to his house at Canton, where all three of 
us were entertained by Mr. Talbot. 

November ph.—WQ visited in the morning sev- 
eral curio-shops, where no end of beautiful objects 
were presented for purchase. The china-shops were 
particularly fascinating. In the afternoon we vis- 
ited the arsenal, and saw them making guns of 
varied descriptions, among them breech-loading 
Spencer and Remington rifles, six or more feet 
long, with a cahber of one inch. On visiting the 
house of the superintendent, we saw for an instant 
his three wives, who were gaudily painted. He 
offered us wine, and seemed pleased that we had 
come to admire his works. 

On our return we visited the Honan Temple, 
where, among other things, they keep sacred pigs,' 
so fat that they can scarcely walk. In one of the 
priest's rooms was a sewing-machine, an evidence 
that foreign improvements are gradually being in- 
troduced. 

November 5th.— We visited the house of a wealthy 
Chinese merchant. It was very large, and had many 
reception-rooms, most of them being furnished with 
black-wood, marble-top tables, and chairs. The par- 
titions were frequently of carved wood and stained 
glass. The ladies' apartment we were not permitted 
to see. From the house we went to the military 
examinations, which consisted of tests in archery. 

The Temple of Horrors is another place of in- 
terest. It is open to the people, who are permitted 
to see the different forms of punishment adminis- 
tered in the empire. The figures are life-size. 



Foreign Military Observations. 325 

One represented a man being sawed in two 
from head to foot. He stands bound between 
planks, one in front, another in rear ; two men with 
a cross-cut saw then begin at the top of the skull, 
and probably kill their victim at the first or second 
stroke. 

Another represents a man on his face receiving 
the bamboo. Three hundred blows usually para- 
lyze the lower limbs, and generally prove fatal. 

A third figure represents beheading, quick and 
painless. 

A fourth represents a man sitting under a red- 
hot bell, which is lowered over him, thus roasting 
him alive, 

A fifth is a figure boiling in a caldron of hot 
water or oil. 

A sixth is the figure of a man whose bones are 
being broken by a weight repeatedly falling upon 
him. 

Another punishment, not represented, is cutting 
a man to pieces by inches, and consists of cutting 
out small pieces of flesh from time to time, from 
different parts of the body, until the man dies. 

Such are some of the cruelties still practiced 
under Confucian civilization. 

From the temple we went to a prison, where we 
saw poor, half-starved creatures, covered with sores 
and vermin, who may languish for years before 
being tried ; and thence went to a court and wit- 
nessed a trial. The prisoner, bound with chains, 
kneeled before three judges, and, with face bowed 
to the ground, not daring to look at his accusers, 
answered the questions put to him. He was ac- 



326 Emory Upton. 

cused of stabbing, which he admitted ; had he not 
done so, it is probable that he would have been 
whipped till he confessed. The knife he used was 
produced, and looked at by his judges, who made 
a report to the prefect, by whom sentence was pro- 
nounced. 

These were some of the things we saw at Can- 
ton, which we left on the 6th, arriving at Hong. 
Kong at 3 p. m. 

Point de Galle, Ceylon, November 25, 1875. 
We left Hong-Kong November nth, on the 
steamer Kashgar, and arrived at Singapore on the 
i6th. The situation of the city near the extreme 
southern point of Asia, within two degrees of the 
equator, makes it a great distributing point from 
which steamers proceed to Hong-Kong, the Philip- 
pine Islands, Java, Australia, Calcutta, and Ceylon. 
Being a focal point for business, it is no less so for 
races. There you have the ubiquitous Chinese, the 
ruddy-faced Englishman, the copper-colored Malay, 
the swarthy Hindoo, the olive-colored Portuguese,' 
and many other nationalities. The government is 
English, the architecture European, modified to . 
suit the tropics. The weather is not so hot as it is 
many degrees to the north. Longer nights and fre- 
quent showers cool the air, and make the climate 
habitable for men of all nations. 

You need only glance at the map to see the far- 
reaching— you might say overreaching— foresight 
of the English Government. Recognizing the vast 
wealth of the East, and the importance of opening 
up all of Asia for her manufactures, she has seized 



Foreign Military Observations. 2>'^'j 

every strategic point commanding the channel of 
commerce from Western Europe to Eastern Asia. 
Gibraltar, Malta, Aden, Perim, commanding the 
only channel at the mouth of the Red Sea ; Ceylon, 
Penang, Singapore, and Hong-Kong — are all in her 
possession. 

Wherever there is a strait, she lays her iron 
grasp upon it. Her acquisition of Perim was inter- 
esting. A French naval commander, it is said, was 
sent to seize it in the name of his government. 
Being invited to dine on board a vessel in an Eng- 
lish squadron, he indiscreetly revealed his mission, 
when an officer at the table recollected to have for- 
gotten something, excused himself, and, while the 
Frenchman was regaled with wine, dispatched a 
ship to capture the barren rock, the importance of 
which had not before occurred to them. When the 
Frenchman arrived he found the cross of St. George 
floating over the coveted prize, and with it the com- 
mand of the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal, had 
passed into the hands of his hereditary enemies. 

With all their diplomacy, one can not fail to 
admire English pluck and enterprise. In the East 
her foundations are of granite. At every seaport 
her government or consular buildings loom up as 
emblems of her mighty power. The heathen look 
upon them and tremble; while Europeans and 
x\mericans are made to feel that, however great 
may be their countries, in Asia they must take a 
subordinate position. 

We left Singapore at 4 p. m. on the 17th, sailed 
through the straits of Malacca, and arrived at Pe- 
nang at 10 A. M. on the 19th. It is a city of about 



328 Emory Upton. 

sixty thousand, mostly natives and Chinese. We 
drove through tropical scenery to a waterfall about 
four hundred feet high, the only object of interest 
in the place. The celebrated Banca tin-mines are 
near Penang. The Hindoos at Penang are the 
handsomest men in figure we have yet seen. Tall, 
erect, lithe, clean-climbed, they are models of sym- 
metry and action. 

We sailed from Penang on the 20th, about 9 
p. M., and on the 21st, in the bay of Bengal, crossed 
the antipodes of Willowbrook and Batavia. The 
bay was as placid as a lake, but the weather was 
hot, compelling us to sleep on deck. We arrived 
here yesterday, the 24th, and in a drive to Waka 
Walla, the only point of interest, passed the banana, 
the cocoanut, the nutmeg, the cinnamon, the clove, 
and other fragrant trees, which reminded us that 
we were in the land of spices. 

Delhi, December 10, 1875. 

From Ceylon we sailed to Bombay, where the 
only special object of interest I visited was the Hos- 
pital for Lepers. But the form of leprosy was not 
that as " white as snow " described in the Script- 
ures ; it appeared rather to be a decomposition of 
animal tissue, resulting in loss of the fingers and 
toes, and even of the hands and feet. Nothing but 
the desire to see so ancient a disease tempted me 
to look upon these hopeless unfortunates. 

December 2d. — We lunched with Sir Philip Wood- 
house, Governor of the Bombay Presidency, and at 
6.30 p. M. left for Delhi. 

Providing ourselves with wraps and pillows, we 



Foreign Military Observatio7is. 329 

passed a comfortable night in the compartment-cars, 
which are so arranged as to give each passenger 
a lounge to himself. The morning of the 3d we 
found ourselves on the great plains of India, over 
which we have already traveled two thousand miles. 

The country is entirely different from what I 
had anticipated. Far from being tropical in its 
vegetation, over the route we have traveled {via 
Allahabad), it resembles the plains of Illinois. Here 
and there groups of trees, looking like the live-oak 
of the South, diversify the landscape, and give to 
the country the appearance of a vast park. A small 
portion of the soil is cultivated, and, but for the 
censuses carefully taken by the English Govern- 
ment, we could not believe that India possesses a 
population of more than two hundred millions. 
Even the valley of the Ganges is sparsely settled, 
its mud-villages appearing at great distances from 
each other. After two days' ride in the cars we 
arrived on the evening of the 4th at Lucknow, fa- 
mous for its siege during the mutiny of 1857. ^^ 
spent Sunday the 5 th at Lucknow, and on the 6th 
visited the Memorial Garden, and Church, at Cawn- 
pore. In the garden is a statue of the Angel of 
Mercy placed over the well, into which were cast 
the remains of about two hundred and fifty women 
and children who were massacred by the mutineers. 

Leaving Cawnpore at 2.30 P. M., we arrived at 
Agra at 11.30 p. m. On the morning of the 7th we 
visited the fort, which is by far the grandest mass 
of masonry I have ever seen. Its walls, built of 
red sandstone, are seventy feet high, and are flanked 
with circular bastions, giving it a contour of grace, 



330 Emory Upton. 

strength, and grandeur. Within its inclosure are 
the palaces of the Mogul emperors, also the cele- 
brated Pearl Mosque. From the fort we drove to 
the Taj-Mahal, a tomb of white marble built by the 
Emperor Shah Jehan in memory of his wife. It 
stands on the banks of the Jumna, so beautiful in 
design and proportion as to excite the admiration 
of the world. In traveling in the East, no less than 
in Europe, one sees that all of the noblest works of 
art have been inspired by rehgion and love. 

In the afternoon of the 7th we drove over to 
Futtehpore Sikree, a distance of twenty-one miles, 
where we spent the night amid the ruins of the city 
founded by the great Akbar. On the 8th we re- 
turned to Agra, visiting en route the tomb of Akbar, 
saw again the Taj by moonlight, and left at 10 P. M. 
for Delhi. 

On arriving at AUygur I left Forsyth and San- 
ger, who continued on to Delhi, while I went to 

Moradabad to see Miss , and deliver to her the 

presents sent to her by her mother and friends. 
She is doing a noble work as a medical missionary, 
has her dispensary in the city, and visits all the sick 
women who send for her. On my way back I 
stopped an hour at Chundowsee, where the Method- 
ist Mission was holding its annual conference. Mr. 
Parker met me at the depot, and drove me to the 
camp where services were just closing. In a large 
tent were gathered about seventy converted Hin- 
doos and Mohammedans, of whom thirty-five were 
ministers. After service I went to Mr. Parker's 
tent, and was warmly welcomed by all the mem- 
bers of the mission, ladies and gentlemen. Their 



Foreign Military Observations. 331 

zeal and devotion, and the success which is attend- 
ing them in establishing schools, circulating the 
Scriptures, and especially in forming a native min- 
istry, afford encouraging evidence that Christianity 
is steadily advancing in India. 

Leaving Chundowsee at 9.20 I arrived here this 
morning at 7.30. 

Delhi, December 17, 1875. 

Upon arriving at Delhi on the morning of the 
7th, Major Sanger was dispatched to Lord Napier's 
headquarters with the letter of General Sherman, 
to ascertain at what hour we could call and pay 
our respects. The message was answered by Cap- 
tain Kennedy, who came to our hotel, and invited 
us to dine with Lord Napier in the evening. We 
found him in camp, most comfortably established, 
bright fires crackling on the hearths, the tents be- 
ing furnished with sofas and easy-chairs. Ladies 
lent their graceful presence, making us feel that we 
were in a palace rather than a camp. Lord Napier 
is a splendid soldier, and a man of most easy and 
affable manners. The dinner was served as nicely 
as in permanent quarters. 

The next day we were invited to accompany 
the " Chief," as the staff officers designate their com- 
mander, to a review of a division of infantry. The 
appearance of the men was excellent. British and 
native infantry stood side by side, the latter emu- 
lating the precision and steadiness of their white 
comrades. The marching, both in quick and double 
time, was exceedingly good ; while the alternation 
of the helmet and turban imparted peculiar interest 
to the scene. This review, short as it was, showed 



332 Emory Upton. 

us the perfection of English discipline, which I have 
always admired. The men in ranks stood firm, and 
would no more have raised a hand than a cadet at 
inspection. After the review we witnessed a sup- 
posed attack of a village, according to the Prussian 
system. The skirmishers went forward in succes- 
sive lines, rushing from position to position, as if 
thus, under the fire of an enemy, they could be 
made to obey every impulse of their leaders. 

Simday, iztJi. — I attended morning and evening 
service at St. James's church. The observance of 
the Sabbath is a noticeable feature in the English 
army. There is no Sunday-morning inspection, 
neither morning nor evening parade. Instead of 
these military exercises, there is a church parade, 
attended by all of the men. The members of dif- 
ferent denominations are then marched to their sev- 
eral churches ; after which, the only duty of the day 
is attendance at roll-call. 

Notwithstanding this absence of display, dis- 
cipline of the highest type prevails — so high, in fact, 
that a second holiday per week (Thursday) does 
not seem to impair it. 

Monday, December ijth. — Attended a review of 
the division of artillery at Bussunt. The distance 
from Delhi to Bussunt is ten miles, which we drove 
in a carriage, with the understanding that horses 
would be supplied us on our arrival. But here one 
of those contrc-teinps occurred which often lose bat- 
tles. Both our own horses, and those of Lord Na- 
pier, had gone astray, having gone to Bussai instead 
of Bussunt. We, however, pushed forward, and 
on arriving at the grounds were supplied with an- 



Foreign Military Observations. -i^-^^T^ 

other mount. The artillery consisted of eleven bat- 
teries, both horse and mounted ; and, what was 
more novel still, there was an elephant-batter}-. 
These huge beasts dragged along the forty-pounder 
siege-guns like so many toys. But the objection to 
them is, that no persuasion can make them stand 
fire ; so, behind each gun follow nine or ten yoke 
of oxen, which replace the two elephants on ap- 
proaching the field of battle. This of course dou- 
bles the expense, and should suggest the discon- 
tinuance of so needless a luxury. After the review, 
a mimic artillery-duel took place, half of the bat- 
teries being assigned to a defensive position, while 
the other half attacked. 

Tuesday, December ipJi. — We left Delhi at 4.20 
P. M. on an expedition to the Himalayas. At 11 
P. M. we arrived at Saharunpoor, where our party 
of five took carriages for Rajpore. These garries, 
as they are called, are arranged so that the traveler 
can extend himself to his full length, enabling him, 
as the roads are smooth, to get a good sleep. After 
much vociferation, and a firm refusal on our part 
to pay in advance the expenses of a round-trip to 
Rajpore and return, our procession consisting of an 
omnibus containing General Forsyth and Major 
Sanger, and three garries, in which Mr. Gillette, of 
England, Mr. Cryder, of New York, and myself 
were ensconced, began to move. 

As we had but two days to go to the mountains 
and back, it was important to reach Rajpore by 7 
A. M. Our first difficulty was, that each relay of 
ponies was balky. After much coaxing, whipping, 
pushing, and shouting, the obstinate creatures, from 



334 Emory Upton. 

standing stock-still, would break into a full gallop. 
With each burst of enthusiasm from the ponies, we 
cherished the hope of arriving at Raj pore at day- 
light, but were doomed to disappointment. Toward 
morning I heard confusion of tongues, and, looking 
out of my garry, perceived that the ponies had dis- 
appeared, and that I was being drawn up the mount- 
ain by coolies. In some of the other garries, oxen 
had been substituted. This was not so bad, for, by 
means of twisting their tails and tickling their backs, 
these little bullocks can be made to trot four or five 
miles an hour. Daylight found us out of temper 
and fifteen miles from Raj pore, but in front of us 
was the beautiful valley of the Doon, with its groves 
of bamboo, orchards of banana, and fields of tea. 
Beyond was a range of hills, seven thousand feet 
high, covered with patches of white, which we took 
to be snow, but afterward found to be the villages 
of Mussoorie and Landour. In the presence of so 
much beauty our better feelings prevailed, and we 
traveled joyfully onward to Raj pore, arriving there 
at noon. Here we breakfasted, and, taking ponies, 
immediately set out for Landour. The road, which 
was well made but very steep, zigzagged up the 
mountain along the edge of precipices and around 
bold headlands, offering us a succession of enchant- 
ing views. With each elevation the scene changed. 
Behind us was the valley of the Doon, with its 
streams looking like threads of silver winding across 
the plain ; still farther was the range of hills a thou- 
sand feet high, separating the valley from the great 
plains beyond ; above were the lofty peaks we must 
crown before the grand view would burst upon us. 



Foreign Military Observations. 335 

Our ponies pushed on bravely. In seven miles they 
were to climb six thousand feet, equal to the height 
of Mount Washington. 

At 4 P. M. we arrived at Mussoorie and Landour. 
Here, after taking refreshments, the proprietor of 
the hotel kindly offered to be our guide. Follow- 
ing him, we threaded the tortuous streets of the 
villages, until he brought us to a crest, whence, with- 
out preparation, the whole range burst into view. 
We were chained to the spot. At our feet was a 
valley, almost a chasm, thousands of feet deep ; and 
twenty miles away rose the peaks of the Himalayas 
nestling in the clouds. Clad in white, reposing in 
solitude and grandeur, they stood before us the 
mighty witnesses of Him whose power is infinite 
and whose ways are past finding out. Reverently, 
I could not but feel " the heavens declare the glory 
of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork." 

After the startling emotions of the first view had 
subsided, we proceeded to the highest peak in Lan- 
dour (seven thousand and three hundred feet) to wit- 
ness the sunset. Behind us, toward the setting sun, 
were the great plains, enveloped in purple mist, in 
which the waters of the Jumna sparkled like the 
fire of an opal. Below us were the white bunga- 
lows of English residents, who seek health in the 
hills, perched on the peaks, and half concealed by 
the spreading trees, which added their verdure to 
the charm. To the eastward, extending sixty or 
eighty miles, stood the mighty monarchs, bathed in 
pinkish light, up whose flanks the lengthening shad- 
ows crept, until the peaks and fleecy clouds alone 
caught the last rays of departing day. 



33^ Emory Upton. 

The next afternoon, on our departure from Sa- 
harunpoor, sixty miles from the range, we had our 
last view. From that distance the mountains loomed 
up among the clouds, enabling us to realize their 
great height of five miles above the sea. 

Friday, lyth. — We witnessed a grand cavalry re- 
view of thirteen regiments. They marched past 
first at a walk, in column of squadrons, then coun- 
termarched and passed at a trot. After which, they 
deployed into line and swept by at a gallop. The 
turban and the helmet ; the elephants, with purple 
caparison, bearing spectators ; the camels grazing 
in the distance ; the ruins of Delhi — gave us a com- 
bination of Oriental and Occidental scenes to be 
found only in India. 

Saturday, i8th. — We left Delhi at 1 1 A. M., and 
arrived at Calcutta on Monday, the 20th. 

General Litchfield, United States consul-general, 
met us at the depot, and we are now enjoying his 
generous hospitality. 

Calcutta, December 23, 1875, 
Everything here is in excitement in anticipation 
of the visit of the Prince of Wales. The evening 
of our arrival we attended a Hindoo reception given 
by two nawabs. It did not differ from a European 
reception, except that there were some native sing- 
ers, who, sitting on the floor, entertained us with 
a succession of plaintive nasal sounds not at all 
agreeable to the ear. 

On the 22d we lunched at Government House. 
After lunch we were presented to his Excellency 
the viceroy, Lord Northbrook. He is an exceed- 
ingly affable man, a ready talker, and, belonging to 



Foreign Military Observations. 337 

a business family — the Barings, of London — showed 
himself an courant with affairs, whether civil, mili- 
tary, or commercial. 

He soon decided our future plans. The unset- 
tled condition of Afghanistan bars that route, while, 
were we able to go to Kashgar, the passes would 
not be open before May or June. The only route 
now open is that through Persia. The viceroy 
told us we should have invitations to all the cere- 
monies in honor of the Prince of Wales, and that 
if any failed to reach us it would be purely acci- 
dental. The interview lasted about half an hour, 
and I need not say we retired well pleased with 
the ruler of nearly two hundred and fifty millions 
of people. 

From Government House we drove to the resi- 
dence of the lieutenant-governor of Bengal, Sir 
Richard Temple, who rules sixty-three millions of 
people. Even colonels of the army, as civil com- 
missioners, rule as many as five millions, equal in 
number to the population of the State of New York. 
Such are the capacities of the civil and military 
service in India. 

December 22d. — We visited Fort William, and in- 
spected the armory and barracks. The latter are 
the best in India, and show what care the Govern- 
ment takes of its soldiers. The men perform mili- 
tary duty only. The policing is done by coolies, 
the cooking is done by coolies, and, when the tired 
soldier seeks his rest at the end of the day, a coolie 
works his punka, and fans him to sleep. In hot 
weather, screens are hung before the doors of the 
quarters, and these are kept wet by coohes. The 
15 



2^S Emory Upton. 

rapid evaporation of the water cools the tempera- 
ture within sufficiently to make life endurable. 

While on the subject of coolies, I may as well 
speak of servants generally. At one house where 
we dined, twenty-four were employed. Of these, 
six found occupation in and about the kitchen, and 
a large number about the stables, one to each horse. 

At another house thirty-nine servants, all men, 
constituted the domestic household. This horde 
was not fed by the employer. Each received about 
three dollars per month, and provided for himself. 

The evening of the 22d we dined at Govern- 
ment House. The viceroy gave me the seat on his 
right, and throughout the dinner entertained me 
with conversation on every variety of subject. After 
dinner the company ascended to the drawing-rooms, 
and there we saw the viceroy receive several of the 
maharajas. These chiefs came into the room in 
gorgeous robes, their turbans glittering with dia- 
monds. It was Europe and Asia again face to face. 
The native princes displayed their plumage like 
peacocks ; the ruler of India, attired in a plain black 
suit, moved among them as modestly as his hum- 
blest guest. 

December 2jd. — In the afternoon we went to the 
landing to witness the reception of the Prince of 
Wales. As on the evening before, the native chiefs 
were the special objects of attention. Attired in 
their richest apparel, they stood resplendent, glit- 
tering in the sun. Patiala wore a turban which 
alone was valued at half a million dollars. About 
his head were festooned strings of diamonds ; among 
them, those formerly belonging to the Empress Eu- 



Foreign Military Observations. 339 

g6nie. Any one of the precious ornaments he so 
lavishly displayed would have been a modest fort- 
une. Pearls and emeralds also decked his clothes, 
enabling him to stand from head to foot a monu- 
ment of Oriental splendor. 

Other chiefs emulated but did not surpass Pa- 
tiala. Some had their robes embroidered in gold, 
others in pearl and turquoise. Above their heads 
glistened sprays of diamonds, while here and there 
huge solitaires twinkled like the stars. Among the 
chiefs stood one of commanding stature, gorgeous 
in his robes, but, Naaman-like, a leper. 

At 4.30 P. M. the prince left his ship under a royal 
salute from the fleet. On reaching the wharf an 
address was presented, to which he replied. He 
was then conducted to the platform, where the na- 
tive princes and other dignitaries were presented, 
after which he immediately left for Government 
House. Thousands of people turned out to wel- 
come him. After he had gone, Patiala and his 
friends stayed upon the platform, and with evident 
satisfaction permitted the people, as many as liked, 
to gaze upon a sight that will never be repeated. 
On retiring from the landing, at his request, I was 
presented to the Maharajah of Cashmere, who in- 
vited us to visit him at his capital. 

In connection with this display, another scene 
deeply impressed me. A native woman fainted, 
and, as the throng passed by, I saw a frail girl bend- 
ing over her, administering restoratives, whom I 

recognized as Miss W , a young missionary from 

Brooklyn. 

December 2ph. — The city was illuminated in 



340 Emory Upton. 

honor of the Prince of Wales. From the Maidan, 
a great park, the pubhc buildings and private resi- 
dences were revealed in outline, making Calcutta, 
indeed, appear the City of Palaces. For miles the 
streets were a blaze of light. On each side wire 
was stretched like telegraph lines, from which, at 
intervals of six or eight inches, were hung small 
white and colored glasses, filled with oil and float- 
ing wicks. Other wires, similarly prepared, hung 
in festoons from those already described. The car- 
riages thus moved through an avenue of light. 
Here and there triumphal arches spanned the streets ; 
while illuminated trees, gateways, and other de- 
vices, increased the effect. All along the line, the 
streets were packed with people clad in white. 
Some of them stood on distant house-steps, and 
looked like specters unmoved by the display. Mo- 
hammedan and Hindoo gazed calmly upon the 
small procession of Europeans who, like conquerors, 
enjoyed the scene. No mark of enthusiasm was 
shown. We passed quietly through the flickering 
light, and, after a drive of five miles, returned to the 
home of our consul. 

Delhi, Jamiary 16, 1876. 

After leaving Calcutta we came directly to 
Delhi, stopping one day at Benares. The latter 
city, being sacred to the Hindoos, we found filled 
with temples. Flowers seemed to be the principal 
sacrifice to their deities ; but with them were offered 
prayers and food. In rowing down the river we 
were most impressed with the rite of cremation. 
In the crisp morning we saw two bright fires burn- 
ing on the shore, each containing about half a cord 



Foreign Military Observations. 341 

of wood. Around them sat a row of half-clad Hin- 
doos, apparently enjoying the warmth that pro- 
ceeded from them. Others were bathing in the 
sacred Ganges, accordmg to their morning custom. 
There was no sign of mourning ; nothing to indicate 
that human remains were being reduced to ashes, 
then to be thrown into the sacred river. We could 
hardly believe that we were witnessing the form of 
burial which has so recently excited the world, yet 
here it is the highest act of respect that can be 
shown. If too poor to provide the wood, the last 
hope of the expiring Hindoo is to be thrown into 
the river. 

We were glad to leave the city. In fact, when 
we shall have once seen the Asiatics of different 
countries, we shall all hope never to see them again, 
except it be the Japanese. The Prince of Wales is 
now here, receiving nearly the same hospitalities as 
at Calcutta. As American officers we have been 
treated with the greatest consideration, having been 
invited to every entertainment that has been given 
to him. He has also taken especial interest in us, 
having invited us to dine with him at his camp, and 
because I was absent, witnessing the manoeuvres, he 
has given us another invitation. Everywhere every 
courtesy and hospitality have been extended to us. 
Last night we all went to call on the American 
missionaries, but found there were none. We, how- 
ever, called on the English Baptist mission, which 
is in a flourishing condition. Dr. Smith told me 
they had six native congregations, presided over 
by native ministers, numbering about four hundred 
and fifty communicants. This morning I went to 



342 Emory Upton. 

the mission church and heard Dr. Smith preach in 
Hindoo. He says he speaks it with as much ease 
as Enghsh. The cliapel was quite well filled, but 
many stayed away because of the cold. They go 
half-naked here, in latitude 29°, all the year round. 
Snow never falls, and to-day we can see the rose 
and peach in full blossom. 

I send you a specimen of lace, which the ladies 
of the Baptist mission have taught the zenanas to 
make. These women scarcely ever go outside of 
their houses. The one who made this lace, I was 
told, had not been in the streets for many years 
until one of the ladies took her in a close carriage 
to see the illumination. 

From here we go to Peshawer, thence back to 
Bombay. We have seen all there is of military in- 
terest, except the Punjaub, and, when that is done, 
I shall be glad to turn my face toward Persia. The 
ride from Bagdad to Teheran will be a long one, 
but I have no doubt it will do us all good. 

Rawul Pindee, January 20, 1876. 

We arrived here this morning, and have been 
compelled to wait over a day, in consequence of 
scarcity of carriage. The place is in a beautiful 
valley, where the orange grows in sight of perpet- 
ual snow. Yesterday we traveled parallel to the 
Himalayas, whose peaks, clad in white, loomed up 
twenty-six thousand feet above the sea. The sun- 
set was particularly beautiful. Poor S , in my 

last letters, has had to wade through nothing but 
the accounts of the Prince of Wales. Thank For- 
tune, we have finally got off from his route ; so no 



Foreign Military Observations. 343 

longer will mention have to be made of him. He, 
however, treated us, as American officers, with the 
greatest consideration, and we shall not soon forget 
his kindness. At the last dinner he gave each of 
us a print of himself and the princess. 

We are now en route to Peshawer, the frontier 
station of India. It is at the mouth of the Kyber 
Pass, the route which, in all probability, Alexander 
took when he invaded India. We have now crossed 
the route of all the great conquerors of Asia — 
Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Tamerlane, and Alex- 
ander. I am not surprised at their success. The 
Asiatics are such cowardly wretches that one deter- 
mined man can chase a thousand. I can imagine 
you to-day frozen up in mid-winter, while here, in 
latitude thirty-six, the oranges still hang on the 
trees. The spring crops are just coming on and 
look promising, but I wish you could see the native 
villages — nothing but mud-huts, so small and dark 
as to be unfit for pig-sties. Yet these people will 
not forsake them ; they have no idea of luxury or 
comfort, and certainly do not care to learn from 
their English masters. 

Rawul Pindee, January 27, 1876. 

We left Rawul Pindee, by a government con- 
veyance, at 8 A. M., on the 21st, and arrived at 4.30 
P. M. at Attock, which is at the junction of the Indus 
and Cabul Rivers. The two streams unite in a large 
plain, apparently with the view of forcing their way 
through a range of hills which crosses the Indus 
immediately below the junction. A Mussulman 
fort, built by Akbar, dominates the rivers, and in 



344 Emory Upton. 

its day was a formidable obstacle to barbarian in- 
vasions. 

Continuing our journey, we arrived at Peshawer 
at 3 A. M. on the 22d. After breakfast we called 
upon Colonel Yorke, who received us very kindly. 
In the afternoon he turned out the Twentieth Pun- 
jaub Infantry, and the Fourteenth Native Infantry, 
for our inspection and review. These men are 
mostly recruited in the vicinity, and many of them 
are wild Afghans, who, in their love for fighting, 
make no distinction between their own people and 
other hostile tribes, 

Sunday we attended the garrison church, and 
walked through the old native city. The latter re- 
sembled many of the cities we saw in China, except 
that the inhabitants were more squalid in appear- 
ance. If you could see the mud-houses of the Hin- 
doos, without windows or furniture, filled with 
smoke and filth, you would realize that poverty is 
unknown in America. In these wretched huts many 
men live who are quite wealthy, not having learned 
that it is unnecessary to conceal their wealth from 
their English masters, as they were wont to do 
under their native rulers. 

Monday, 24th. — Major Omaney organized for us 
an expedition to the Khyber Pass. Accompanied 
by him and several English officers, we proceeded 
to Jumrood, the frontier post of the Enghsh, thir- 
teen miles from Peshawer, where we were met by 
one hundred and fifty armed Afghans from across 
the border. 

Half-clad in sheep-skins, wearing the turban, and 
armed with matchlocks, swords, pistols, and knives, 



ForeigJt Military Observations. 345 

a worse-looking set of cut-throats it is difficult to 
imagine. A general discharge of fire-arms from the 
parapet of the old fort of Jumrood signalized our 
approach. Here we took horses, and with our 
murderous-looking escort started for the pass, two 
miles off. We all thought how easy it would be 
for these fellows to close the pass and turn upon 
us : and our confidence was not increased by the 
sight of a murdered Afghan, whose grave was be- 
ing dug by the road-side, and whose murderer, in 
retaliation, had bitten the dust before our return. 

Such is their life. Claiming to be descendants 
of the " lost tribes of Israel," they mercilessly en- 
force the law, " Eye for an eye, and tooth for a 
tooth." If a man is shot or stabbed, his friends 
hunt down the murderer like a wild beast. 

These are the characteristics of the many tribes 
to whose tender mercies we would have committed 
ourselves, had we endeavored to cross Afghanistan 
against the counsel of the viceroy. They acknowl- 
edge no law, and are as independent of the Emir of 
Cabul as they are of the English. The latter they 
have been taught to fear, hence they rarely make 
forays upon the villages under English protection ; 
but between each other, village against village, and 
family against family, are often arrayed in deadly 
hostility. In their faces there is no gleam of com- 
passion, and they look as if to fire at a man from 
ambush, or to stab him in the dark, would be the 
greatest of secret pleasures. As we rode in the 
midst of the rabble we could see old men, and even 
boys of twelve and thirteen, bearing the deadliest 
weapons. From the cradle to the grave, war and 



34^ Emory Upton. 

bloodshed appear to be their occupation ; and even 
in cultivating the soil they never quit their weapons, 
lest every bush conceal an enemy. 

The entrance to the pass was like a gateway be- 
tween two cliffs, about one thousand feet high. In- 
side we ascended the gravelly bed of a dry stream, 
and then, taking a fine road, constructed by the 
English in 1841, we penetrated about three miles 
and a half, when the civil commissioner thought he 
had gone as far as was prudent. The mountains 
were treeless and verdureless, resembling those 
about Salt Lake. 

On our return to Jumrood an excellent lunch 
awaited us, after which our Afghan friends amused 
us with feats of marksmanship. They proved that, 
with the old flint-lock musket, a bottle could read- 
ily be hit at one hundred and fifty yards. The day 
was a most pleasant one, and in interest was worthy 
of being classed with the day we visited the Nan- 
kow Pass, and the Great Wall of China. 

Tuesday, 2§th. — The whole garrison, consisting 
of two British and four native regiments of infantry, 
two native cavalry regiments, and three batteries 
of artillery, was turned out for review. The blend- 
ing of uniforms and colors I have already described 
at Delhi ; but here the picturesqueness was increased 
by the proximity of the mountains which, like a 
horseshoe, almost encircled us. 

Above and beyond the troops were the Hindoo- 
Koosh, fifteen thousand feet high, completely cov- 
ered with snow ; while, in the gardens at our backs, 
could be culled the sweet lemon, and roses, almost 
in full bloom. 



Foreign Military Observatio7ts. 347 

Peshawer lies almost in the center of a plain, 
fifty by sixty miles square ; and, being nearly sur- 
rounded by mountains, in one of the hottest and 
most unhealthy places in India. British regiments 
are required to remain in it but one year. The 
Seventeenth Regiment, seven hundred strong, have 
all had chills and fever except eight men, and over 
three hundred were sick at one time. 

Alexander wintered in the valley of Peshawer, 
then covered with forests, and the home of the rhi- 
noceros. It was also in the devastating path of 
Tamerlane. To-day, under the English, it knows 
more peace and prosperity than in all the ages since 
Alexander. 

We left Peshawer on Wednesday, the 26th, at 9 
A. M. ; stopped at Attock, where we " tiffined " with 
officers of the artillery, and resuming our journey 
arrived here, where for want of horses we are again 
detained. We shall, however, get off to-morrow, 
and then shall make our way almost directly to 
Bombay. 

Arabian Sea, February 17, 1876. 

This afternoon we shall sight Muscat. It lies on 
the Tropic of Cancer, and in summer is one of the 
hottest places on the globe. The thermometer fre- 
quently stands at 108° all night. The mountains be- 
hind it rise to a height of six thousand feet. The 
Bedouins vex the spirit of his Majesty the Sultan 
to such an extent that he frequently flees to the 
Persian shore. Whenever he has money in his cof- 
fers, they organize in the desert, advance to the 
gates of the city and demand a subsidy. If this be 
not forthcoming, they attack the place and compel 



348 Emory Upton. 

compliance with their demands. We shall be at 
Muscat but a few hours, and hope to arrive at 
Bushire on Thursday next. Then our work begins. 
The route is safe, and I have no doubt we shall find 
it pleasant. We are on a delightful little steamer, 
and as comfortable as if we were on the Hudson. 
One can not fail to admire English enterprise in the 
East. It has placed steamship lines along every 
coast, and now one can go around the world as 
easily as he can travel in his own country. Already 
I begin to think with pleasure of turning my face 
homeward. 

Bunder Abbas, Persia, February 20, 1876. 

We left Bombay, Friday, February nth, at 6 
P. M., on the steamer Umbala, for Bushire. 

Monday, the 14th, we arrived at Kurrachee. 
The city contains about seventy thousand people, 
and lies in a low, flat plain, about twenty miles from 
the mouth of the Indus. The country back of the 
city is almost barren ; yet, within, irrigation pro- 
duces fine crops, and shows that only water is re- 
quired to make the desert beautiful as a garden. 
Behind the city there is a range of verdureless hills, 
rising to eight hundred or a thousand feet. The 
harbor contained no less than eight steamers the 
morning we arrived, and we were naturally puzzled 
as to the reason for such a commercial appearance. 
It lies, however, in the fact that the port is the out- 
let for the valley of the Indus, which is navigable 
as far up as Moultan. 

Tuesday, at 1 1 A. M., we sailed for Muscat, where 
we arrived on the morning of the i8th. The har- 
bor is a small bay, protected on each side by pre- 



Foreign Military Observations. 349 

cipitous rocks from three to five hundred feet high, 
which are crowned with castles bristling with can- 
non. 

The city lies at the head of the bay, as in the 
neck of a funnel, and looks more like a place in Eu- 
rope, in the middle ages, than the capital of an 
Oriental despot. The front of the city, and also the 
castles, were built by the Portuguese, when it was 
in their possession, who lost the city in a general 
massacre resulting, it is said, from the effort of the 
ruler to marry a native woman in defiance of the 
precepts of her religion. 

Squeezed between barren, broiling rocks, on 
which the eye seeks in vain for verdure, the city 
claims geographically the benefit of both a tropical 
and temperate climate. It lies on the tropic of 
Cancer — an imaginary line which assumes a painful 
reality when, in summer, the torrid winds, sweep- 
ing across it, keep the thermometer at 108° night 
and day. 

The only place of interest, as in most Asiatic 
towns, is the bazaar in which the tradesmen expose 
for sale the few wares and curiosities of the country. 

We brought letters to Colonel Miles, the politi- 
cal agent of Great Britain, who received us kindly 
and invited us to lunch. But the great object of 
interest was our visit to the Sultan, or Imaum. On 
expressing a desire to pay our respects, the colonel 
sent a note to the palace, receiving in reply an ap- 
pointment for 2 P. M. At that hour we proceeded 
through a narrow alley to the palace, which we ap- 
proached from the rear. As the door was thrown 
open, an Arabian lion glared at us from his cage on 



350 Emory Upton, 

the left. A couple of horses stood on our right, 
while in front about a dozen ragamuffins, with 
knives, and arms of the oddest pattern, awaited to 
do us military honor. 

On entering the court, his majesty sent his re- 
grets that, in consequence of lameness, he was not 
able to receive us at the foot of the stairs. This 
flattering explanation having been interpreted, we 
mounted the rickety stairway, and at the top were 
met by the Sultan, who shook us cordially by the 
hand, and motioned us into an adjoining room. The 
furniture of the room was very simple, consisting 
of a green-covered table in the center, a sofa, and 
some chairs, arranged with military precision against 
the walls. 

The Sultan wore a turban, a gray gown extend- 
ing from his head to his feet, a white under-garment 
richly embroidered, and sandals which exposed his 
well-shaped bare feet. 

His face is said to be the handsomest in Asia, 
but this I think an exaggeration, or at least a com- 
pliment to kingly vanity. He was, however, fine- 
looking, with a high forehead, arched eyebrows, 
aquiline nose, firm mouth, and patriarchal beard. 
A feeling of sadness seemed to overspread his 
countenance, which could be accounted for by his 
meditation on the lives of his predecessors, most 
of whom have died by violence ; or by reflecting 
on his own experience, which has not been devoid 
of danger. 

Only a few weeks since he was compelled to flee 
to Persia ; was reinstated through the kind offices 
of England, and again finds himself tottering on his 



Foreign Military Observations. 351 

throne, not knowing what moment some blood- 
thirsty wretch may dispatch him. 

The conversation was not very edifying. We 
told him we had come from America, and, having 
learned accidentally that morning that we had a 
treaty with the Imaum of Muscat, we expressed the 
hope that the relations of the two countries might 
remain cordial. He then began to inquire about 
India, the Franco-German War, and particularly 
the war between the Khedive of Egypt and his 
brother the Sultan of Zanzibar. We told him that 
the armies of the Khedive had been repulsed. He 
said, for a great man with a great many soldiers, to 
attack a small man with a few soldiers, was mean 
and cowardly, and, as this accorded with .our ideas 
as soldiers, we gave a formal assent. 

During the course of the interview refreshments 
were served. The first consisted of a confection 
looking like cocoanut-candy, then followed coffee, 
after which the servant brought in four very large 
glasses filled with a transparent sweet fluid like 
sherbet. Politeness only requires one to take a sip ; 
but some persons, thinking this would not be a suit- 
able appreciation of hospitality, have been known to 
drink the entire glass, and have been very sick for 
their pains. 

After removing the sherbet, the servant re- 
turned with a large server on which w^as a very 
small vial. For an instant I was puzzled, but recol- 
lecting that we were in the land of cassia, myrrh, 
and frankincense, a fortunate intuition suggested 
an Arabian perfume, so, placing the end of my fin- 
ger in the neck of the vial, I wet it, and immediate- 



352 E mo 7y Upton. 

ly stroked my mustache. The delicious odor of 
attar of roses soon filled the room, and, enveloped 
in perfume, we thanked his majesty for his kind re- 
ception, and took our departure. 

We left Muscat Friday, at 7 P. M., and arrived 
here at 9 A. M. this morning (20th). At this port 
Alexander was met by his fleet about 325 B. c. The 
country has the .same sterile aspect as at Muscat. 
The mountains a few miles in the interior rise to 
ten thousand feet, and are now capped with snow. 

Shiraz, Persia, March 6, 1876. 

From Bunder Abbas we went to Linjah, where 
we arrived at i P. M. on the 21st of February. The 
town is a squalid-looking- place, scarcely distin- 
guishable from the gray coast-line, and from the 
clay -colored mountains rising in the rear. We 
called on the sheik, and afterward visited the wells, 
and saw where he had walled in, and left to die, a 
thief, who had stolen one of his horses. This is 
not an uncommon punishment in Persia. They fre- 
quently compel the culprit to build his own tomb, 
which is just large enough for him to stand inside, 
and then placing him in it, head downward, pour it 
full of liquid lime. Death in this manner is almost 
instantaneous. The feet are allowed to project, 
where they remain as a terror to evil-doers, until 
they drop off from decay. 

Another punishment, inflicted for minor offenses, 
is beating the bottom of the feet with sticks. This 
is done so mercilessly in some instances as to beat 
off the toes, and leave the offender a cripple for 
months. 



Foreign Military Observations. 353 

The only European at Linjah was the agent of 
the British India Steamship Company, whom we 
took on board, a wretched sufferer from rheumatic 
fever. From Linjah we went to Bahrein in Arabia, 
where we arrived at i p. m. on the 23d. The town 
is on an island, and is celebrated for its pearl-fish- 
eries. We endeavored to buy a few pearls, but 
found that during the fishing-season experts from 
the jewelers at Bombay had purchased the valuable 
ones, and sent them to India and Europe. 

We left Bahrein on the morning of the 24th, 
and, sailing almost due north, reached Bushire at 
10 A. M. on the 25th. Captain Campbell, commander 
of the British gunboat, came on board to call on 
us, and sent us ashore in his boat. We thence pro- 
ceeded on horseback to the British residency, where 
we were delightfully received and entertained by 
Colonel and Mrs. Ross. This brave little woman 
has followed her husband to all his stations on the 
Persian Gulf, and wherever he has been has made 
him a home that has been admired by all who have 
had the good fortune to visit them. 

The city lies on a flat peninsula of sand, and from 
the sea presents an imposing appearance ; but a 
nearer approach, like that of Muscat, dispels the 
illusion, for it is built of rubble-stone and mud, with 
streets so narrow as to be easily roofed over, thus 
excluding the sun. We remained at Bushire Satur- 
day and Sunday, completing our outfit for the long 
journey of more than a thousand miles on horse- 
back. All superfluous baggage had to be sent off 
to Naples. 

My kit, when made up, consisted of an undress 



354 Emory Upton. 

uniform, a dark winter suit, half a dozen collars, 
half a dozen handkerchiefs, one change of under- 
clothing, half a dozen stockings, and a folding dress- 
ing-case. These articles are wrapped in several 
parcels, and are carried in saddle-bags made of Per- 
sian carpet, which are slung over the horse's back 
in rear of the saddle. The bedding consists of one 
comforter, a pillow, and a tick, which is filled with 
chopped straw at each station. 

Our riding-suit is made of dust-colored cordu- 
roy. The coat is a short plaited frock, full of pock- 
ets ; trousers cut tight like riding-breeches ; leg- 
gings to the knee, and shoes, are made of brown 
leather. This suit, which we all wear, has been ad- 
mired as the best traveling-dress that has been seen 
in Persia. All of the above outfit, after leaving 
Shiraz, is to be carried on the horses we ride. 

For the trip to Shiraz we took three horses and 
six mules. The Persian saddle which we rejected, 
having English saddles of our own, covers the horse 
from his shoulders to his hips ; the skirts are four 
inches thick, and the hideous, unsightly thing weighs 
not less than sixty pounds. To carry these three 
saddles, used as pack-saddles, required an extra 
mule. Our entire train consisted of three horses 
and six mules. The route at times not having 
been free from robbers, we each carried a carbine 
and revolver. 

All of our arrangements having been completed, 
we took leave of Colonel and Mrs. Ross, and at 
11.30 A. M. on the 28th of February commenced our 
march. Several gentlemen escorted us a short dis- 
tance out of the city, and Dr. Andreas, of the Ger- 



Foreign Military Observations. 355 

man scientific expedition, at our invitation, accom- 
panied us to our first halting-place. 

The road from Bushire, for about fifteen miles, 
is through sand, overflowed by the sea at high tide. 
The next few miles the land is flat, with here and 
there a patch of barley. With this exception, the 
only vegetation is a low sage-bush, which half cov- 
ers the soil, and gives the ground a gray, mottled 
appearance. The date-palm appears here and there, 
wherever water is found. It being quite hot, the 
air rose tremblingly from the plain, giving rise to 
mirage, not so dazzling as to people the waste with 
villages and groves ; yet, apparently, we saw lakes 
where no water existed, while the black tops of the 
date-palms seemed to stand trunkless, suspended 
above the horizon. 

The first night we spent at Ahmadi in a hand- 
some caravansary. These structures take the place 
of hotels throughout Asia, and in Persia are built 
by rich extortioners, who thus hope to smooth their 
way heavenward. They are built in the form of a 
square, usually one story high, and are entered 
through a pointed arched gateway. In the center 
of the court is a raised platform, about three feet 
high, upon which saddles and packs are deposited. 
Facing the court on all four sides are a number of 
arched recesses, with an aperture at the back of 
each leading into a dark room. These rooms, to 
which the arched recesses serve as parlors, are the 
only accommodation the traveler can hope for. In 
the center of each is a hole in the floor, about the 
size and depth of a hat. This serves for a fireplace, 
and, as there is no chimney, the smoke rises to the 



356 Emory Upton. 

blackened ceiling, and thence descends to plague 
the eyes and noses of the occupants. If no felt has 
been provided by the traveler to cover the aperture 
for the door, he must sleep in communication with 
the open air, no matter how cold. 

In the angles stabling is provided for the ani- 
mals. The best caravansaries usually have a room 
over the arched gateway, and also above the cen- 
ters of the other sides. Even with this advantage 
there is no approach to luxury ; yet the Persian, 
who, doubtless, has never seen anything better, 
looks upon them as the perfection of rest for the 
traveler. 

We were most fortunate in securing a servant 
who speaks a little English. He had just made the 
trip from T,eheran with Mr. and Mrs. Arnold, of 
London, whom we met at Bunder Abbas. Without 
him we would have been in a sorry plight, as not 
another servant was to be found in Bushire. His 
mess-kit is so small as to be carried in a pair of sad- 
dle-bags, and yet, with the small fire before de- 
scribed, he manages in a few minutes to give us an 
omelette, or a stew, to which no reasonable man 
can object. The night of the 29th we stopped at 
Daliki, near the foot of the mountains. A short 
distance from the village we passed several sulphur 
and naphtha springs. 

March ist. — We clambered up the mountain- 
paths to the plain Konartakteh, eighteen hundred 
feet above the sea, thence still higher to the plain 
of Kamaraj, twenty-nine hundred feet above the 
sea. The mountains consisted simply of the up- 
turned edges of stratified rock, the inclination of 



Foreign Military Observations. 357 

the strata being- 45", while the broken faces were 
frequently ahnost vertical. Near the summit of the 
pass, or kotal, leading to Kamaraj, we saw vast 
quantities of gypsum. The mountains were all tree- 
less, but small patches of grass were here and there 
visible. 

March 2d. — We left Kamaraj at 6 A. M., and spent 
the night at Kazeroon. When about three miles 
from the city we were met by the governor and a 
large body of horsemen, who escorted us to the 
governor's house. As we approached his gate a 
man struck off the head of a lamb, and, holding 
it up, exclaimed, " Welcome in the name of the 
Prophet ! " 

On our way in we were entertained with feats 
of horsemanship. Two men caracoled backward 
and forward across the road, leaping ditches and 
hedges, and firing their guns and pistols at each 
other. All this time the calaon, or pipe, about two 
and a half feet high, was kept circulating. Being 
in a complimentary frame of mind, I admired the 
governor's horse. He immediately gave him to me, 
and insisted on my taking him ; but that was impos- 
sible, which, I half suspected, he knew before mak- 
ing the generous offer. On entering his house, 
breakfast was served in a room overlooking the 
court. It consisted first of sweetmeats, which were 
delicious ; then melons and fruits ; and, lastly, chick- 
ens, game, and meats. The cooking was good, and 
far superior to that of China and Japan. 

At the breakfast there was present Sayed Ma- 
homet, a descendant of the Prophet. Like the de- 
scendants of Confucius, those of the Prophet are 



35 S Emory Upton. 

highly honored, and are insured a comfortable liv- 
ing. The one before us must have stood six feet 
four in his stockings. When sitting his beard 
reached to his girdle. On his head he wore a green 
turban, the sign of his lineage. With a high fore- 
head, arched eyebrows, aquiline nose, and flowing 
beard, he lacked only the frost of age to make him 
the perfect type of the patriarch. 

When breakfast was finished, the governor es- 
corted us to a house in a large orange-grove, where 
we were allowed to refresh ourselves, after which 
tea was served in the garden. Toward evening we 
returned to the governor's house, where we dined. 
After dinner, which did not differ much from the 
breakfast, we went back to our quarters in the 
grove, and at daylight were off for Shiraz. 

Two steep kotals brought us to the plain of Dash- 
tiarjan, nearly six thousand six hundred feet above 
the sea. The night we spent at the telegraph-office. 
As I have already written you, the Anglo-Indian 
telegraph runs along the entire route from Bushire 
to Teheran. It is splendidly constructed, with cast- 
iron poles. Every forty or fifty miles there is a 
telegraph-office, and an operator who speaks Eng- 
lish. At these offices we were kindly received and 
hospitably entertained. All along our line of march 
we had only to look at the telegraph-line, to remind 
us of the civilization to which we were hastening. 
In mountain-passes, where the poles were perched 
on dizzy heights, and the wires spanned gracefully 
the intervening chasms ; or on the plains, where for 
miles the poles could be seen growing shorter and 
shorter, till lost in a point of the horizon, we felt 



Foreign Military Observations. 359 

that we were not alone, and that our mute compan- 
ion, though silent to us, was transmitting messages 
to hundreds of people in Europe, Asia, and even 
distant America. 

We left Dashtiarjan at 5.55 A. M. on the 4th, and 
arrived at Shiraz at 6 p. M. Mr. Walker, the super- 
intendent of the telegraph, came out to meet us, and 
made us very comfortable at his house. The pleas- 
ure of our visit was increased on account of his 
having a brother, Captain Fergus Walker, in the 
First Infantry. 

Shiraz lies in a valley about forty miles long and 
twelve broad. Around the city the soil is well cul- 
tivated, but nearly nine tenths of the land is suf- 
fered to lie idle. We called on the governor, who 
is a brother-in-law of the Shah, and had a particu- 
larly pleasant interview, as he spoke French fluent- 
ly, enabling us to dispense with an interpreter. 

The only objects of curiosity at Shiraz are the 
tombs of the great poets Saadi and Hafiz. We were 
also shown a stream, about two feet wide, which the 
former has made immortal. These three objects, 
and a walk through the bazaar, constituted all of 
our sight-seeing at Shiraz. 

Teheran, March ig, 1876. 

We left Shiraz on Monday the 6th at 3 P. M., on 
chapar-horses for Ispahan, and passed the night in 
a chapar-khanah at Zirgan. Mr. Walker and sev- 
eral friends accompanied us a few miles on our 
road, and then left us to our new experience in Per- 
sian travel. There are no railroads, as )^ou well 
know, in Persia ; nor have we seen a wheeled ve- 
hicle of any description from Bushire to Teheran. 



360 Emory Upton. 

As a substitute, there are lines of post-horses estab- 
lished on all the main routes centering at the capital. 

The distance between stations is from sixteen to 
twenty-eight miles. At each station there are from 
three to five chapar-horses, and such horses as are 
only to be met in Persia. Foundered, ring-boned, 
and spavined, they often start off on three legs; 
but, on warming to their work, they gradually get 
the use of the fourth, and then, breaking into an 
ambling gait, canter almost without a stop from 
one station to another. It hardly does to speak of 
their backs. The hard, inflexible Persian saddle, 
which looks like the roof of a small house, has made 
them so sore that it is far preferable to ride them in 
winter than summer. To the above defects must 
be added another which involves some peril to the 
rider, and that is, that they are knee-sprung and 
frequently stumble. Each one of us got a fall — 
horse and rider tumbling into a heap — yet we all 
escaped without a bruise or a scratch. 

The stations are called chapar-khanahs, and are 
built exclusively of mud. In form they are like the 
caravansaries, with the exception that they have 
small, round towers at the angles, and that there is 
a single room over the arched gateway for the ac- 
commodation of travelers. 

As you enter this room, through an aperture for 
a door, which has to be stopped with a felt or a 
blanket, the view of its mud floor, mud walls, and 
mud ceiling, is nowise cheering or encouraging. 
Presently the servant appears with a light, spreads 
your bedding, and then brings in a soup, and some 
kind of a stew, which he calls your dinner. After 



Fore{g7i Military Observations. 361 

you hav^e eaten it — sitting cross-legged like a Turk 
— the only resource left is sleep. 

Our cook was remarkable for the variety of uses 
to which he could apply the few articles composing 
our kit, a quality we had overlooked until one day 
we discovered that the soup had been served in our 
wash-basins! Fortunately our appetites had been 
appeased, but from that time we requested him to 
exert his ingenuity in other directions. 

From Zirgan we went to the ruins of Persepolis, 
the ancient capital of the empire. The city was 
situated at the junction of five fertile valleys, and 
was surrounded with snow-capped mountains. 

The ruins consist of the lower stories of the 
palaces of Darius and Xerxes, the Hall of Xerxes, 
and the propylcea of Xerxes. They stand on three 
terraces of different elevations, the walls supporting 
the terraces being about fifty feet high. The out- 
side walls, which face the plain, are composed of 
large blocks of limestone, which required no little 
engineering skill to place one above the other. 
From the top of the walls the terraces extend back 
three or four hundred yards to the mountains, which 
rise precipitously in the rear. A broad, double 
staircase, up which our horses clambered, leads 
from the plain to the terraces. On the inner walls 
of the staircases, processions of men and beasts are 
sculptured in bass-relief; also in the gateway and 
on the sides of the doors of the palaces combats be- 
tween men and beasts are represented in the same 
manner. 

In the propylasa of Xerxes, beneath one of the 
huge winged lions, carved in large letters, was the 
16 



362 Emory Upton. 

name "Stanley — New York Herald." The names 
of British embassadors, and many other visitors, are 
also written or carved conspicuously on the col- 
umns of the different edifices. The grandest build- 
ing must have been the Hall of Xerxes, which con- 
sisted of a massive roof supported by seventy-two 
columns, each seventy feet high and six feet in diam- 
eter. 

Alexander visited Persepolis, and it is supposed 
burned its palaces. Behind the ruins, excavated in 
solid rock, are several tombs. The tomb of Darius 
is said to be at Nakh-i-Rustam. It consists of a 
Greek cross, sculptured in the face of a vertical 
cliff about two hundred feet high. In the center of 
the cross a door leads into a gallery excavated par- 
allel to the horizontal arm. From the inner face of 
the gallery, if like the one we entered at Persepolis, 
three arched recesses are excavated, each of which 
contains two graves sunk beneath the floor. Above 
the door, on the horizontal arm, there are two tiers 
of human figures in bass-relief. At the top of the 
vertical arm there is a figure of the sun, and below 
it an altar of fire. Standing in front of the altar, a 
bow in his hand, the king adores the source of light 
and heat. To-day in Teheran the fire-worshipers 
render the sun the same homage as in the days of 
Cyrus. Neither Christianity, nor astronomy, nor 
the persecuting power of Mohammedanism, has suf- 
ficed to turn them from their ignorant worship. 
They move among the Persians probably the only 
true descendants of the people who lived twenty- 
four centuries ago when the empire was at the ze- 
nith of its power. 



Foreign Military Observations. 363 

Leaving Persepolis and Nakh - i - Rustam we 
passed on to Saidan, where we spent the night. 

Wednesday, St/i.—We, proceeded to Dehbid. On 
our way we passed the tomb of Cyrus. It stands 
in a large plain about six thousand feet above the 
sea, surrounded by low mountains. The tomb, 
which looks like a small, one-story rectangular 
house, with massive roof and eaves, rests on a pyram- 
idal pedestal, the steps of which are composed of 
blocks of marble nine feet long and three feet high. 
Around the base of the pyramid are fragments of 
columns which probably supported a stone roof 
above the tomb. Notwithstanding this edifice has 
disappeared, the elements for centuries have beaten 
in vain against the mausoleum of the great king. 
His sarcophagus is gone, his ashes are scattered to 
the winds, but his sepulchre still stands, almost the 
only monument of the greatness of his reign. 

Near by is a solitary column about fifty feet 
high, and a high wall, the end of a hall, the only 
remains of the city of Pasargardas. Among the 
many visitors to the tomb of Cyrus was Alexander. 
Unlike visitors at Persepolis, he did not inscribe his 
name thereon, but wrote it in blood from the o-ulf 
of Issus to the valley of the Indus. 

Leaving Dehbid at 6 A. M., we spent the night of 
the 9th at Abadeh, the night of the loth at Kume- 
sheh, and arrived at Ispahan at 3.30 p. m. on the 
nth, where we were the guests of Mr. Bruce, an 
English missionary. This brave man has had a 
hard time among the Armenians and Mussulmans. 
Four times he has been shot at, but still continues 
to work in the hope of success. 



364 Emory Upton, 

Ispahan lies in a large plain, with mountains ris- 
ing in every direction. The soil is cultivated ex- 
clusively by irrigation, not only by artificial streams 
brought along the surface of the ground, but by 
subterranean streams brought from the mountains 
miles away. 

To dig one of these streams, they sink a well 
near the base of the mountains till they find a spring 
of living water large enough to supply a stream 
three or four feet wide and a foot in depth. The 
first well is sometimes as many as three hundred 
feet deep. Having found water, they sink other 
wells, about every hundred feet, along the line of 
the proposed stream, the bottoms of which are on 
the same level as the first. A channel is then dug 
from the bottom of one well to another until, as the 
wells gradually decrease in depth, the water is 
brought to the surface miles from the source. On 
leaving Ispahan we followed one of these connaiits, 
as they are called, for forty miles. 

As soon as the water is brought to the surface it 
is conducted in ditches to the small fields, varying 
in size from one hundred to one thousand or two 
thousand square feet. For the purpose of being 
flooded, the fields are separated from each other by 
a raised furrow about a foot high. It is only after 
seeing the immense labor the poor people of Persia 
have to perform before receiving a grain from the 
soil, that one can appreciate the blessing of living 
in a country of rains and fruitful seasons. 

At Ispahan we called upon the governor, who, 
although the eldest son of the Shah, is not the heir 
to the throne, as he was not born of a princess. The 



Foreign Military Observatio7ts. 365 

heir is Governor of Tabriz, but is now in Teheran, 
where he has come to pay his respects to the Shah, 
on the opening of the New Year. 

From Ispahan we came through to Teheran in 
four days, stopping the first night (13th) at Soh. 
The 14th we crossed the pass of Kohrud, eight 
thousand eight hundred feet above the sea. Not- 
withstanding the elevation and snow, we suffered 
more from the heat, and reflection of the sun, than 
on any da)'' since leaving Bushire. The night of 
the 14th we spent at Kashan; the night of the 
15th at Pul-i-dilak; and on the i6th, at 5.30, arrived 
at the British legation in Teheran. 

The last two days from Ispahan we rode one 
hundred and sixty miles ; on the other days we 
averaged from fifty to seventy. 

The country from Bushire to Teheran is the 
most arid I have ever seen, and the poverty of the 
people passes description. During the famine of 
1871-72 one fifth of the population — more than a 
million souls — perished from starvation. In some 
villages and districts every man and beast per- 
ished. The people were so hungry that, when dogs 
were shot in the streets, they tore them to pieces 
and devoured their flesh raw. Even in Teheran 
the dead were allowed to decay in the streets. In 
some places children fell victims to the hunger of 
their parents. 

On our way to Shiraz I visited a village. It con- 
sisted of a low stone shed, inclosing a court about 
one hundred feet square. In the center of the court 
was a huge pile of manure, and several stagnant 
pools of discolored water. The rooms which faced 



366 Emory Upton. 

the court were not more than ten feet square, and 
were without beds, windows, or floors. The people 
sleep on felts and skins, spread on the ground, 
and, to make up as much as possible for the want 
of fire, they bring their sheep and calves into their 
rooms to avail themselves of their animal heat. 
In the stalls I have described, which we would 
not use for the meanest of domestic animals, were 
crowded together one hundred and fifty men, 
women, and children, the picture of misery, filth, 
and despair. 

This village was but one of many we passed 
alonof our route. We saw several which had been 
completely depopulated by the famine. Ruin every- 
where prevailed. Even a large portion of Ispahan, 
which two hundred years ago was a city of several 
hundred thousand people, was a heap of rubbish 
and deserted walls. Most of the houses, including 
the roofs, are built of mud mixed with straw. 

In cities like Shiraz and Ispahan the bazaars are 
built of brick, the streets being completely arched 
over, so that when one approaches the city he enters 
a tunnel, and emerges at a point several hundred 
yards away. On each side of the street, within the 
arcade, every article of merchandise is exposed to 
the best advantage. The salesmen sit cross-legged 
awaiting customers. If so fortunate as to be driv- 
ing a bargain, a fierce discussion at once ensues, in 
which everybody is free to participate. Between 
the booths, an incessant crowd of people, horses, 
mules, camels, and donkeys, move up and down, but 
never in a hurry. The measured sound of bells, 
swinging slowly from one side to the other beneath 



Foreign Military Observations. 367 

the necks of camels, tells of the arrival of caravans 
from distant parts of the empire. 

No heavy stages or express-wagons are seen lum- 
bering through the streets. As you crowd your 
way along, with perhaps the Mohammedans curs- 
ing you, and the camels gazing at you with their 
meaningless brown eyes, you feel that you are in a 
strange land in the far East. 

In the days of Ahasiierus, Haman asked for the 
extermination of the Jews, and the king granted his 
request. Queen Esther, at Ihe peril of her life, 
begged for her people ; and, when Haman had met 
his fate, the king sent orders to the Jews to defend 
themselves. He could not revoke his first law, but 
the second gave courage to the Jews, and when as- 
sailed they slew five hundred people within the pal- 
ace. To-day, the Shah could sport in the same 
manner with the lives of his people. Here, as in 
China, monarchy and absolutism culminate, and cor- 
ruption is the order of the day. Even the Shah 
takes bribes, and when he wishes to extort money 
he announces a visit to some distant province, in 
order that the governors and officials may buy him 
off, rather than incur the expense of entertaining 
him. When he travels, his soldiers, like a swarm of 
locusts, devour the sustenance of the people. 

Governorships are bought and sold ; and, when 
the revenue is not forthcoming, the people are 
squeezed till they yield the last farthing. 

Teheran, March 20, 1876. 

When I left Bushire, supposing the fatigues of 
our journey would be great, I resolved not to write 



368 Emory Upton. 

any letters till our arrival at Constantinople, but to- 
day the English courier goes out, and I avail myself 
of the opportunity of sending you a line. 

We left Bushire on the 28th ultimo, and came 
through in sixteen days, averaging from Shiraz 
from fifty to eighty miles per day. Were 1 writing 
to E , I could give her some idea of the coun- 
try by comparing it with New Mexico and Arizona, 
but I am glad you have never seen anything ap- 
proaching it. India, China, and Japan give you 
some idea of wealth, but in Persia all is poverty 
and wretchedness. Things, however, are relative, 
and, I doubt not, the Persian whose ancestors have 
for centuries wrapped themselves in skins and felts, 
and slept on clay floors, thinks himself quite as well 
off as the laborers of America who enjoy the luxury 
of comfortable homes. Everywhere mud stares you 
in the face. Wells, houses, caravansaries, and even 
palaces are built of this ugly, cheap material. The 
rapidity with which the buildings wash away in 
heavy rains gives the entire country the appearance 
of being in ruins. I am glad to have seen Persia, 
but, were I now permitted to leave it, I would go 
off as the crow flies. 

The population is, of course, mostly Moham- 
medan, but in Shiraz, Ispahan, and Teheran, there 
are many Armenians. There are also some fire- 
worshipers, who still hold to the religion of the 
days of Cyrus. Ten days ago I saw them at wor- 
ship. Their walls were draped in mourning, and 
they were wailing and weeping most piteously. 

The Armenians, until England interceded for 
them, were almost in a condition of slavery. They 



Foreign Military Observations. 369 

could not ride in a public street, and they were per- 
mitted to be robbed by Mussulmans with impunity. 
Their form of worship is almost like that of the 
Roman Catholics, and their morality is but little 
above that of the Mohammedans. It is principally 
among them that our missionaries are employed. 
There are two American missionaries in Teheran 
and one also at Tabreez. Mr. Thompson invited the 
missionaries to meet us at one of the two dinners 
he gave in honor of our arrival. 

I can not tell you how anxious 1 am to arrive in 
Constantinople, nor how glad I shall be when, in 
December, I turn my face toward home. Do the 
best I can, it is difficult to observe the Sabbath as I 
would like, and, while traveling, there is not the 
time nor the opportunity to observe the hours of 
devotion which your own home and occupations 
permit. Nevertheless, I find peace and comfort in 
this dreary land. Emily's Testament and the little 
book of Psalms which you gave me are my constant 
companions, and I read them daily with comfort to 
my soul. 

We shall leave here on Wednesday, the 22d, 
and shall go, via Tabreez, Tiflis, and Poti, to Con- 
stantinople, where we hope to arrive on the 15 th of 
April. There nearly four months* mail awaits us. 

Our party look as brown as the Indians of the 
plains. My nose has peeled, and my ears have 
been as badly swollen by heat as they could have 
been by cold. In addition to this, an incipient 
beard, which I shall cut off at Naples, does not add 
to my personal appearance. To-morrow we attend 
the reception of the Shah, given in honor of the 



S7^ Emory Upton. 

opening of the new year. It is a ceremony which 
one cares to see but once. The diplomatic corps 
do not remove their shoes when they enter the 
presence of the Shah, but, by the terms of their 
treaties, they have to wear goloshes or overshoes, 
which they remove in the court of the palace. 

We have all been very much distressed by the 
telegram, and, if it be true that the one of our 
Cabinet ministers whom we supposed to possess 
the most integrity has been guilty of corruption, 
it is time for the American people to take the sub- 
ject of civil-service reform in hand. Beggarly 
salaries and rotation in office are gradually under- 
mining the integrity of all our public servants, and, 
unless checked, will surely lead to disaster. The 
English minister at Teheran receives a salary of 
twenty-five thousand dollars in gold, is provided 
with a house elegantly furnished, and is supplied 
with a corps of trained servants. We ask a man to 
serve us as Secretary of State or War for eight 
thousand a year, and to pay all of his expenses. I 
love my country as much as any of its citizens, but 
I can not shut my eyes to its meanness. 

TiFLis, Caucasus, April 12, 1876. 
It gives me no little satisfaction to inform you 
of our safe arrival here. We came in last night 
in a coach and six, our condiicteur blowing his 
bugle with all his might. The journey across 
Central Asia is finished, and, while it has been 
fatiguing and very uncomfortable, has yet been 
enjoyable and full of instruction. We have seen 
Persia, an empire almost as old as China, and are 



Foreign Military Observations. 371 

now enabled to compare Asiatic with European 
civilization. 

You can not imagine the change we already per- 
ceive. At Julfa, on the Araxes, the frontier post 
of Russia, it was clear there was a change of gov- 
ernment. The villages were no longer built exclu- 
sively of mud, but here and there were substantial 
one-storied houses, built of dressed stone. From 
the mouth of the Peiho to the river Araxes we 
have seen nothing but mud — mud houses, mud 
stables, mud mosques, mud palaces, and mud 
bridges. From Bushire to Teheran we did not see 
nor meet a wheeled vehicle. Everything is trans- 
ported on camels, horses, mules, and donkeys. The 
entire country is reduced to poverty, and I be- 
lieve no civilized people on earth enjoy so few of 
the creature comforts of life as the Persians. Their 
mud huts would disgrace the farm-yard of the poor- 
est families of America. The Shah lives in grand 
state, resplendent in his diamonds, while his gov- 
ernors are sent forth to wring the last qj{oaii from 
the peasant which is not necessary to support life. 
We now turn to Europe. Already we can see that 
under Russian rule the citizen can accumulate and 
enjoy his property. When he dies, his emperor 
does not seize all of his effects, but the law gives 
them to his heirs and he can live in comfort, and 
also in the anticipation of making his children com- 
fortable. 

We shall spend about a week here. There is a 
military school here and a large garrison to look 
into, particularly the organization of the Cossacks, 
and this can not be done much within the time 



372 Emory Upton. 

stated. In passing through Tabreez we stopped with 
Mr. Easton, an American missionary who came on 
with us to Tiflis. As he knew Turkish well, he was 
of good service. The feature of our trip from 
Tabreez was the view of Mount Ararat. It stood 
out a graceful cone seventeen thousand feet high, 
rising like Vesuvius from a large plain. Close to it, 
and actually a part of it, stands Little Ararat, eleven 
thousand feet high. We climbed the mountain 
nearly to the snow-line, but had to give up the fur- 
ther ascent on account of a rain-storm that envel- 
oped the summit. 

Nakh-i-chiwan is so named because there Noah is 
supposed to have descended. We visited his tomb, 
but, as it did not appear to be more than fifty years 
old, we were at liberty to reject the tradition. The 
tomb of Cyrus, at Passargade, bears plainly the 
marks of twenty or more centuries ; but the tomb of 
Noah, instead of being built of huge blocks of mar- 
ble, was made of soft brick, incapable of resisting 
for even a century the severe weather of the Cau- 
casus. Please excuse my writing ; there has been 
an earthquake since commencing my letter. 

Constantinople, May 7, 1876, 
When I arrived I found two dozen letters await- 
ing me at the minister's. Craving for news from 
home, many I read before leaving the legation, but 
yours I reserved for the quiet of my own room. 

The one from Philadelphia impressed me deeply. 
Never was Christian sympathy offered more oppor- 
tunely, nor do I believe more gratefully received. 
I feel for exactly as you do. He has sinned 



Foreign Military Observations. ^ilZ 

and sinned deeply, and his sin does not consist in 
being found out. " Against thee, thee only, have I 
sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that thou 
mightest be justified when thou speakest and be 
clear when thou judgest." 

The beauty of the fifty-first Psalm never im- 
pressed itself upon me until you spoke of it one day 
in connection with a negro who had committed 

murder. Your letter about I have given to 

Forsyth and Major Sanger to read, and I know it 
will produce a deep effect upon them. Before I 
came here I had resolved to write to him, but I 
wished to wait until I could learn the particulars of 
his offense. Then came your letter, and I at once 
put my resolution into effect. 

He can not construe sympathy with approval of 
his conduct, and it will certainly do him good to 
know that those upon whom he has bestowed so 
much kindness will not forsake him. God be with 
him, and grant that he may not be hardened by his 
offense, but be led to repentance, forgiveness, and 
peace ! I do not wonder the country has been 
shocked by the disclosure, and that now so much 
distrust is entertained in regard to all our public 
servants. We need reform, permanent and sure — 
not a wave of indignation that sweeps a few knaves 
from office, to be succeeded only by others, but a 
new system that shall induce good men to enter the 
service of the Government. A one-term President, 
life-tenure, and good salaries, must lie at the foun- 
dation of any system that will bear good results. 
I need not tell you how much I enjoyed all the de- 
tails of home news. ... I have read some of Mr. 



374 Emory Upton. 

Moody's sermons with great interest. They are 
not strong, but power seems to pervade them. He 
must have the gift of the Holy Spirit, and I hope 
his success may awaken the ministry to a new sense 
of their duty. There is too much shirking the right 
way to awaken men to a sense of their short-com- 
ings. Fraud, violence, peculation, dishonesty, and 
hypocrisy are never mentioned from the pulpit. 

When I see the good Moody does, I wonder 
that the ministry is so supine. Why do they preach 
year in and year out to the ninety-and-nine that 
need no repentance, and leave the hundredth to 
perish— rather, the millions ? Preaching always to 
the same congregation, they do not appreciate the 
application of the parable of the lost sheep, nor 
realize that in making the ministry a lucrative pro- 
fession they have surrendered the manly independ- 
ence so conspicuous in the character of all reform- 
ers. " The children of darkness are wiser in their 
day and generation than the children of light." 

If the politicians wish to carry an election in 
a doubtful State, they at once send abroad for all 
the powerful speakers in their party. Why do not 
the ministers imitate them ? Why, at least for two 
months every year, do not the ablest ministers ex- 
change pulpits ? If Dr. Hall were to go to Buffalo 
for a couple of months, thousands of people would 
go to hear him who never enter a church-door, just 
as in New York Moody has attracted crowds whose 
sole curiosity at first was to know " what will this 
babbler say ? " 

Again, they could speak the truth, denounce 
sins by name, and not fear a commotion. Let the 



Foreig7t Military Observations. 375 

wealthy congregations which hang with deHght on 
the eloquent words of their preachers make this 
sacrifice, and feel that, as a Christian duty they en- 
able their pastors to go forth to other cities and 
proclaim the glad tidings. This subject has often 
been on my mind. The plan would be a simple 
one, and were there a few congregations to com- 
mence it, the results, I believe, would be astound- 
ing. Have you ever spoken to your many influen- 
tial friends about it ? To-day, for the first time 
since leaving Bombay, I have had the privilege of 
attending the communion-table. I hope so long an 
interval will not occur again. 

The news has just come that the French and 
German consuls have been murdered at Salonica. 
If true, it may be the beginning of the end of the 
Eastern question. 

This is a great city, and I do not wonder that 
Russia covets it. But she is not 3'et ready to move. 
North of the Black Sea there is a country as fertile 
as the great plains of Illinois, almost unpopulated. 
This must be settled up, and when an industrious 
population begins to find itself hemmed in by the 
Black Sea it will look southward to the other shore 
and demand the possession of the Golden Gate- 
way. 

We leave here on Tuesday for Naples, calling 
en route at Smyrna, Ephesus, Athens, Corinth, and 
Brindisi. At Tabreez we had our photographs 
taken. The dark individual in the background is 
the cook who wished to give us our soup in our 
wash-bowls. He is a good specimen of the Per- 
sian. 



37^ Emory Upton. 

Rome, May 28, 1876, 
From Constantinople we took steamer for Na- 
ples, touching at Smyrna for twelve hours, which 
enabled us to visit Ephesus, distant by rail forty- 
nine miles. We saw the prison where St. Paul was 
reported to have been confined, also the ruins of 
the theatre where the silversmiths and the mob 
shouted for two hours, " Great is Diana of the Ephe- 
sians ! " Of the Temple of Diana nothing remains 
but the foundations. From Smyrna our steamer 
went to Athens, where she stopped over twenty- 
four hours, giving us ample time to see the Acropo- 
lis, surrounded by the Parthenon, the grandest of 
all Grecian ruins. Near by was Mars Hill, from 
which St. Paul, where the Athenians had gathered 
together to hear " what will this babbler say ? " de- 
livered his memorable address. Leaving Athens, 
we went to Sicily, stopping twelve hours at Mes- 
sina. A carriage-ride of six miles took us to the 
famous Charybdis, opposite to which and four 
miles ofE is the equally celebrated Scylla. We 
passed between the rock and whirlpool without en- 
countering any of the dangers so often alluded to 
in young ladies' compositions, and next touched at 
Palermo, where we were allowed two days. The 
Bay of Palermo is one of the most beautiful in the 
world, and the city, too, is worthy of its situation. 
We left Palermo in a sirocco, and had the most 
boisterous weather since leaving San Francisco. 
For the third time only we had racks in our tables. 
At Naples I completed my tour around the world, 
as I was there in 1868. The Sunday after our ar- 
rival I passed at Sorrento, where my precious 



Foreign Military Observations. 2>77 

Emily spent a month with me in 1868. From Na- 
ples we came here by rail. I am glad once more 
to be in the land of railroads. The time at sea 
seems a dead loss. Now we can come and go 
when and Avhere we please. 

Rome, Jtme 4, 1876. 
Last Sunday evening I went to the church where 
the nuns sang, and from which Emily retired with 
such deep religious impressions. The music was 
not so celestial as on that occasion. For days it 
ran in my mind, and it seemed as if I could not 
forget it. To-day at church, in the hymn-book I 
opened at the hymn prefaced with " Thy will be 
done," and to the verse— 

" If Thou dost call me to resign 
What most I prize, 
It ne'er was mine ; 
I only yield Thee what is Thine— 
Thy will be done." 

I thank Him who taught us this prayer, and who 
bore all of our sorrows, that I can repeat it and 
now be grateful for the hope submission has given. 

The service this morning was held in the new 
Episcopal church, which is scarcely more than 
roofed in. When finished it will be quite pretty. 
After service I remained at communion, which 
quite a number attended. Several Italians came 
into the church during service and looked on with 
curiosity. 

A great change has come over the city since the 
occupation of the Italians. The atmosphere seems 
free, and the place has already made great strides 
m the way of building and improvements. In seek- 



37^ Emory Upton. 

ing military information I see a good deal of the 
Italian officers. They are all bitter against the Pope 
and priesthood. One told me there was no religion 
in Rome, only superstition, and quoted an old prov- 
erb, " If you want to become a heretic, go to Rome." 
Another told me that not one officer in a hundred 
went to church exxept to see the pictures. It is 
not a feeling of infidelity or atheism that controls 
them, but disgust at the dissolute lives of the 
priests. No man ever goes to confession, except, 
perhaps, during Holy Week, when the priest 
touches him on the head with a cane, and, without 
opening his mouth, he goes away believing his sins 
are forgiven. One of the officers told me that the 
Protestant schools were increasing, and that the 
Methodists had twenty or more. Time must work 
reform. There is too much intelligence to permit 
religion to be made a mockery of much longer. 

I shall get away from here this week, and, after 
visiting the military establishments of Florence, 
Turin, and Milan, hope to reach St. Petersburg by 
July I St. 

Geneva, Jum 25, 1876. 
It seems quite near home to get a letter from 
you dated June 2d. The American travelers were 
not very handsome, although their dress was con- 
sidered the finest that had been seen in Persia. So 
much does locality control taste ! 

General Sherman, when I visited St. Louis en 
route to San Francisco, told me not to attempt to 
present the military organization of Europe in my 
report; that all I need to do would be to write 
four or five hundred pages of conclusions. Since 



Foreign Military Observations. 379 

arriving in Europe, I have discovered that our 
military organization is so worthless that now I 
feel* that even a thousand pages would not suffice 
to show it up. I do not know where I shall go on 
my return, but undoubtedly five or six months will 
be required to write my report, and this time will 
have to be spent in Washington, v/here I can have 
access to official data that I shall need for my argu- 
ment. Yesterday morning I left Turin, and saw 
cii route the Mont Cenis Tunnel. Down deep in 
the bowels of the earth, it will endure throughout 
time a monument of man's greatness. En route to 
St. Petersburg I have stolen four or five days to 
see the delightful scenery of SwitzerLand. Military 
matters keep me now very busy, and I often find 
myself too tired to sleep. Three or four days' re- 
laxation will do me good. 

St. Petersburg, July i6, 1876. 

In Geneva I met a graduate of West Point of 
the class of 1874. He told me that " Benedicite," 
one of the books given to his class, had found its 
way to Geneva, and was being read with great 
interest by a gentleman friend. The cadet read it 
and sent it to his father, who sent it to the gentle- 
man. 

My second trip into Russia is as interesting as 
the first. From Warsaw to Moscow, two days by 
rail, the country is an unbroken plain. Over the 
long, tedious route now traversed in so few hours 
the army of Napoleon toiled for months toward the 
goal which, no sooner than possessed, was envel- 
oped in flames. Their victory turned to ashes, the 



380 Emory Upton. 

weary retreat began with death before them in all 
its forms. I could not but think constantly of the 
sufferings of that gallant army as I rode so com- 
fortably toward the commercial capital of the Rus- 
sian Empire. All along the route we passed through 
villages of the emancipated serfs. No marks of im- 
provement were visible ; no new houses told of the 
increasing prosperity of its humble occupants. In 
Russia, the nobles and the rich are exempt from 
taxation, and the burden falls on the peasant. All 
that he gets beyond the necessaries of life goes to 
the tax-collector. He lives in a log-hut with a 
thatched roof, and in winter shares his abode with 
his sheep, his cattle, and his pigs. The clothes that 
he puts on in autumn remain on his body till 
spring, and, next to the beasts, he must be the filthi- 
est of all animals. Time must change all this, and 
now mutterings are heard against the privileges 
which give luxury to one class and degradation to 
another. 

As I look out of my window I can see St. Isaac's 
Cathedral, one of the finest edifices in Christendom. 
The great pillars of red granite, the bronze bas- 
reliefs, the angels in bronze crowning the angles, 
and the dream of a dome covered with heavy gilt, 
are wonders of architecture. Within are rich mar- 
bles and several Corinthian columns of malachite. 
The church ranks, I think, next to the Milan Cathe- 
dral. 

July 27, 1 8 76. 

Having a day of unexpected leisure, I shall em- 
ploy a part of it in writing a short letter to you. I 
arrived here on the 13th, and, had I not been 



Foreign Military Observations. 381 

schooled in patience, would be very much disgusted 
at the progress I have made, for I have not yet 
gained the slightest military information in regard 
to the Russian army. Everything is bound up in 
red-tape, and it takes time to cut it. Last Sunday 
and Monday I was at the camp and was presented 
to the Emperor. I should have a very poor opinion 
of you if you could not hold a more interesting 
conversation with a Russian than the Emperor 
did with me. " When have you come? " " When 
have you come ? " "■ You have come to see the 
camp ? " " How long you will stay ? " constituted the 
essence of his remarks. In reply, being in the face 
of royalty, and not at liberty to speak except when 
spoken to, I was supposed to excel him in brevity, 
which was not difficult to do. There may be suffi- 
cient reason for imposing the above rule, for no 
doubt thousands of people would like to enlighten 
royalty by expressing views in season and out of 
season ; but, looking on the Emperor as a miserable, 
sinful man, subject to all the weaknesses and pas- 
sions of human nature, I could not but compare the 
interviews he deigns to accord to his fellow-men 
with that accorded to his humblest child by the 
King of kings and the Lord of lords. He who 
laid the foundations of the earth, the Maker of all 
things visible and invisible, tells us that his ears 
are ever open to our prayers, and bids us to come 
into his presence with joy and thanksgiving. No 
liveried servants bid us wait. No courtiers, shining 
in reflected light, can bar us from his presence. He 
meets us not in gilded palaces, but in the secret of 
the closet, where he imparts to us the communion 



382 Emory Upton. 

of his Holy Spirit, and fills our hearts with joy and 
peace. 

Tzarskoye-Sei.o, August 20, 1876. 

The heat all over America must have been fright- 
ful. Here it is so chilly that during the manoeuvres 
I wear double suits of winter under-clothes, the 
only means I have of keeping warm, as etiquette 
forbids any person riding in the suite of the Em- 
peror to wear an overcoat except when his Majesty 
is so clad. 

Foreign officers visiting the camp are treated in 
such a manner as to shame our government. We 
have a carriage constantly at our disposal. On 
days of ceremony we drive to the rendezvous of the 
troops, and there take beautiful saddle-horses, which 
belong to us during our stay. Since we came here, 
the Crown Prince of Italy, and the Kings of Den- 
mark and Greece, with their consorts, have visited 
the Russian capital, and we have been present at all 
the ceremonies in their honor. The reviews are 
the perfection of military pageants. 

When the Empress comes on the ground, the 
Emperor places himself at the head of his army and 
presents the troops amid the strains of martial 
music and hurrahs of the soldiers. The cheers are 
not always enthusiastic. The. soldier, with his 
mouth half open and a stereotyped grin on his face, 
looks about as animated as the statues one sees of 
the " Laughing Faun." In stolidity and stupidity I 
have never seen anything approaching the Russian 
peasant. 

After each ceremony or manoeuvre is over, break- 
fast is served in one of the palaces for the suite and 



Foreign Military Observations. i^^ 

the strangers, who number, all told, about one hun- 
dred. Dinner follows at six o'clock. At both 
breakfast and dinner five or six varieties of the 
choicest wines are provided from the imperial cel- 
lars. I am told that the dinners cost about five 
pounds a head. If so, there is need of reform in 
Russia. The horses required for the service of the 
suite and the strangers number seven hundred and 
fifty. As in the course of the manoeuvres we mi- 
grate from palace to palace, you can imagine what 
must be the expense of maintaining a movable 
hotel, with guests, horses and carriages, and other 
impedimenta in proportion. 

The Emperor has been very kind to us, and once, 
in common with the other foreign generals, I have 
had the pleasure of dining with him. He speaks 
French and German fluently, but is not so strong in 
English. Last Friday we had a beautiful ceremony 
m the fete of the regiment Probrijensky, or Trans- 
figuration. Each regiment bears the name of some 
holy or saint's day, and on its recurrence celebrates 
it as \ve celebrate Christmas. On this occasion the 
regiment was fgrmed on three sides of a square, and 
religious services were held in the center, accord- 
ing to the rites of the Greek Church. At'the con- 
clusion of the ceremony the Emperor and imperial 
family went forward and kissed the cross, after 
which holy water was sprinkled on the colors, and 
successively on all the men. After the ceremony 
was over, a breakfast was given to the men, consist- 
ing of black bread, soup, cold meat, and beer. Near 
by, under a canopy, breakfast was served for the 
Emperor and his guests. 



3^4 Emory Upton. 

When nearly over, the men rushed up in front 
of his Majesty, and loudly cheered the Kings of 
Denmark and Greece, and also the Emperor after 
he had proposed the health of the regiment. 

The afternoon was spent in witnessing a bom- 
bardment of a field fortification, and at six o'clock 
the Emperor gave a dinner to the officers of the 
regiment whose hospitality he had enjoyed in the 
morning. 

This dinner was made the occasion of decorating 
the foreign generals who were visiting the camp. 
On being spoken to about receiving this mark of 
imperial favor, I informed the officer that our Con- 
stitution forbade us to receive a foreign decoration, 
and that, with thanks, we would have to decline. 
At dinner we therefore saw the French, Austrian, 
and German generals with crimson scarfs and 
crosses of Ste. Anne or Stanislaus, while Forsyth 
and I sat modestly and contented by in our plain 
but not ugly uniforms. 

The absence of decoration at once made us con- 
spicuous in the presence of the whole company, so 
when the dinner was over, in order to show that no 
slight had been intended, the Emperor and Grand 
Duke Nicholas, his brother, came to us and held 
quite a long conversation. I felt rather proud than 
otherwise to be able to decline a favor from the 
Autocrat of all the Russias, which has no more sig- 
nificance than our own much-abused brevets. 

Our visit here has given us as much of an in- 
sight into royalty as we had in India. We are now 
near the close of the Russian manoeuvres, and will 
soon be on our way to Berlin and Vienna. Time 



Foretgji Military Observations. 385 

rushes headlong, and before we know it we will be 
rolling and pitching on the Atlantic. 

Berlin, October 8, 1876. 

I fear I shall not be able to get away from Berlin 
before the ist of November. The disagreeable ex- 
perience we have had with our legation has cost us 
ten days, not to speak of the failure to see the ma- 
noeuvres. 

Berlin is a beautiful city, and the people impress 
me most favorably. If the Germans are not all 
blondes, the freshness and joyousness of their com- 
plexion are pleasant to behold. This applies to the 
women as much as to the men. The former, like 
Englishwomen, seem to enjoy better health than 
their sisters in America. I do not know to what it 
can be due, unless we ascribe it to the tonic effects 
of ale or beer. 

The soldiers are handsome, cleanly youno- fel- 
lows, from twenty to twenty-three years of age. 
Their bearing denotes a good discipline, while the 
cheerful face shows an absence of oppression. The 
officers, who are well dressed, have no swagger, but 
they walk with the self-consciousness that, in the 
social scale, they stand next to the Kaiser. 

I was somewhat surprised by the question ad- 
dressed me by an officer of the famous German 
staff, who wanted to know whether our government 
or court language was French or English. There 
are a great many Europeans whose minds are 
cloudy on this subject. The amusements of Berlin 
are very inviting and inexpensive. You can take a 
family of ten to hear the best orchestra in the world 
17 



386 Emory Upton. 

(Belse's), and have a private box, for a dollar and a 
quarter. If all drink beer at six and a half cents a 
glass, the total will be one dollar and ninety cents. 

At this place you see the best families. The 
ladies take their knitting or crocheting ; each family 
takes its table, and for three hours they listen to 
classic music, and drink their beer or sip their tea 
or coffee. At ten o'clock all amusements close, and 
the people go home, unless a cafd or restaurant 
tempts the appetite. 

The German Government is all red-tape. It 
took two weeks to get permission to see what our 
War Department would have granted in half an 
hour. 

With regard to coming to Willowbrook to write 
my report, the result of six months' labor there 

would be 7iil. When A is at Willowbrook he 

succeeds in reading many books, but he does so by 
going to the library immediately after breakfast, 
lighting his pipe, and turning a deaf ear to every 
proposal to go to Auburn or elsewhere. While he 
concentrates his attention I dissipate mine, and all 
my thoughts go fugitive. I might as well try to 
capture a flock of wild pigeons as to capture my 
thoughts and arrange them in logical order for offi- 
cial use. I shall, therefore, have to go to Washing- 
ton, where I shall have access to books, papers, and 
figures, and other notes necessary for my argu- 
ment. 

I shall devote most of my attention to the sub- 
ject of officers, and to showing our reckless extrava- 
gance in making war. When Germany fought 
France she put her army on a war-footing in eight 



Foreign Military Observatio7is. 387 

days, and in eight days more she had four hundred 
thousand men on French territory. It took us from 
April, 1 86 1, to March, 1862, to form an army of the 
same size at an expense of nearly eight hundred 
millions of dollars. We can not maintain a great 
army in peace, but we can provide a scheme for 
officering a large force in time of war, and such a 
scheme is deserving of study. 

My stay here is about over. I have been per- 
mitted to see the military schools and have learned 
much of the military system of Germany. How 
completely the nation is given over to warlike 
preparation is shown by the boys, who wear mili- 
tary caps, and by both boys and girls, who carry 
their books to and from school in knapsacks. This 
strain can not last long. After the late war. Parlia- 
ment tied its own hands by voting supplies for 
seven years. When that period expires, discussion 
will again be resumed. 



CHAPTER X. 

REPORT ON THE ARMIES OF EUROPE AND ASIA. 

Traveling in a foreign land appears, to a youth- 
ful, romantic mind, the most pleasant of all possible 
occupations. Every one hopes at some future time 
to go beyond the narrow confines of his native 
place, and to view with his own eyes the wonders 
of other countries. And whenever circumstances 
so order affairs as to make this dream a reality, the 
expectant Ulysses bids a hearty but hurried adieu 
to his home and friends, and turns his face longingly 
toward the distant shores. But here also anticipa- 
tion, like all other pleasures, is found to surpass 
possession. The looked-for pleasure soon becomes 
fatigue, and finally satiety, enmii, homesickness, 
unite to turn the wearied traveler willingly back to 
his kindred and friends. 

This experience, in its inception, growth, and 
maturity, is plainly shown in the home letters of 
General Upton, even before he had reached the 
boundaries of Europe. But, tethered by the bonds 
of official duty, he was forced to observe, record, 
and study the matters connected with his profes- 
sion, and to endure as best he could the delays 
which official etiquette constantly interposed in his 
path. But, when his last official act was completed, 



The Armies of Europe and Asia, 389 

like an escaped prisoner he gladly hastened home- 
ward. 

After reporting for duty to the War Depart- 
ment, and upon the termination of a short leave 
granted him lor the purpose of visiting his relatives, 
General Upton was assigned to duty at the artil- 
lery-school of practice at Fortress Monroe, where 
he reported March i, 1877. 

This school, established for the proper instruc- 
tion of the subaltern artillery-officers of the army in 
the professional branches relating to their arm of 
the service, had been in successful operation for 
several years, and General Upton was at once put 
in charge of the instruction in military engineering, 
the art of war, law, and infantry tactics. Under his 
direction other officers were specifically intrusted 
with the direct management of these several de- 
partments of instruction. 

In the art of war, and especially in that division 
relating to strategy and grand tactics, he was an 
enthusiast, and the success which attended his in- 
struction in these branches was that which usually 
attends the master of an art who is at the same time 
a thorough teacher. He inspired his pupils with 
something of his own enthusiastic devotion, and 
succeeded in arousing the liveliest interest by perti- 
nent illustrations from historical sources, exemplify- 
ing and illuminating each particular principle under 
discussion. In the study of these principles, from 
the simple to the more abstruse, he listened patient- 
ly to the crude explanation offered by each young 
officer, and then, by just criticism and careful cor- 
rection, he swept away all difficulties, unraveled all 



390 Emory Upton. 

intricacies, and presented the finished problem so 
completely solved as to excite the greatest interest 
and to command the closest attention. His ad- 
mirable analysis of each particular example taken 
from past history almost invariably commended 
itself to the growing judgment of his younger as- 
sociates, and impressed them with the highest con- 
fidence in his judgment, and an admiration for his 
undoubted attainments as a general. In this respect, 
therefore, his tour of duty at Fortress Monroe will 
have its future importance and value in the fruit 
that will ripen from the seeds of professional in- 
struction planted in the minds of those young offi- 
cers who enjoyed the great benefit of his personal 
and official companionship at this period of their 
army training. Thus, the time available for the 
preparation of his report, being that left after the 
performance of his duties as an instructor, was 
necessarily limited. Day by day, as opportunity 
offered, he collected and arranged the military data 
from his voluminous notes, and digested his obser- 
vations relating to the organization of foreign 
armies. It was a labor of no little magnitude to 
condense these into a professional report which 
would at the same time be compact and yet com- 
prehensive in all of its details. But with untiring 
zeal and indefatigable labor he held steadfastly to 
his task, and, having obtained the requisite author- 
ity, he finally completed his report in a published 
book of over four hundred pages.* It is not possi- 
ble nor necessary to give here anything more than 
a brief risume of this work to enable the reader to 

* "Armies of Asia and Europe," D. Appleton & Co., 1878. 



The Armies of Europe and Asia. 391 

acquire an intelligent opinion of its scope and char- 
acter. But, for the military student to get a com- 
prehensive view of his tour and to obtain a sound 
knowledge of its important lessons, a careful study 
of the report itself is indispensable. 

General Upton possessed peculiar fitness for the 
duty to which he was assigned, and the means 
placed at his disposal for the accomplishment of his 
task were commensurate with its importance. To 
these points, therefore, it is well to refer briefly. 

As his story so far shows, it is evident that he 
was an officer of rare merit and of excellent judg- 
ment and character ; a graduate of the Military 
Academy, a brilliant commander of artillery, infant- 
ry, and cavalry during the late war, and the author 
of the infantry tactics in use in the army and militia. 
He had just completed an honorable tour of five 
years of duty as instructor of tactics and comman- 
dant of cadets at West Point, and was generally 
conceded to be one of the most accomplished sol- 
diers of his day, an untiring, faithful, and methodical 
student of his profession, and was constantly sup- 
ported by a genuine enthusiasm for the art of war. 
He was animated by an earnest desire to see his 
country free itself from the disadvantages of a 
policy of expedients, and estabhsh a simple, eco- 
nomical, and efficient military system adapted to its 
real necessities, and governed by such just and cor- 
rect principles as have been approved by all modern 
nations, as well as confirmed by its own bitter ex- 
perience. Such was the man and such his capabili- 
ties for the task assigned to him. 

Owing to the world-wide reputation which the 



392 Emory Upton. 

United States had gained in her unbounded re- 
sources, her untiring and steadfast adherence to prin- 
ciple, her immense sacrifices and expenditures in the 
successful prosecution and in the prestige arising 
from its happy termination of a great war, any of 
her mihtary representatives would thus have been 
assured of the kindest reception from foreign gov- 
ernments. But Upton's commendatory letters con- 
tained something more than the usual diplomatic 
compliments. They were charged with expressions 
of appreciation of his character as a soldier of more 
than usual reputation, and thus insured a more than 
courteous reception, and a more thorough insight 
into military affairs. Possibly, moreover, as his 
country could in no way be regarded as an antago- 
nist in a military or political sense, a greater lati- 
tude was allowed him as its representative in what- 
ever investigations he wished to make in the art of 
war. Thus was the way made much more open 
than it would have been to one from a nation more 
deeply interested individually in the concerns of 
Europe or Asia. 

To give the reader an insight only into the im- 
portant deductions which General Upton drew 
from his observations, we will briefly condense his 
conclusions in the several important fields of his in- 
vestigation, and, without further apology, make use 
of his own language whenever this may be practi- 
cable and convenient : 

Army of Japan. — Previous to 1867, the ideas 
which prevailed in the organization of this army, 
and in its military affairs, were not those of mod- 



The Armies of Europe and Asia. 393 

ern civilization. But in 1867, upon the solicitation 
of the Tycoon, a French commission was invited 
to undertake the task of instructing the Japanese 
troops m the tactics and regulations of the several 
arms of the service. But the revolution of 1868, 
which had for its principal object the restoration 
of the temporal power of the Mikado, brought the 
work of this military commission to a speedy close. 

The Mikado, impressed by the importance of 
the modern system of the art of war, and desirous 
of firmly establishing his government, issued in 
1 87 1 his decree which established the imperial 
army of Japan, and obtained the aid of another 
French commission to organize and discipline it. 
This commission arrived in Japan in 1872. At the 
time of Upton's visit, it had aleady established at 
Yeddo the necessary institutions for the education 
of officers and non-commissioned officers in the 
various military branches, its military academy be- 
ing modeled upon that of the United States at 
West Point. 

The Japanese army was reorganized on a basis 
of one thousand men to each million inhabitants, 
for the peace establishment, with proper facilities 
for enlargement in time of war. The arms, equip- 
ment, drill, and discipline were modeled after the 
French types. Within three years (the interval be- 
tween the arrival of the commission and General 
Upton's visit), substantial barracks had been erect- 
ed, permanent institutions founded, and the army 
passed from the condition of an undisciplined 
horde to a respectably organized force. Insurrec- 
tions no longer could gather headway, and success 



394 Emory Upton. 

attended Japanese military operations in Formosa 
and Corea. Japan, in the opinion of General Up- 
ton, turned at once from the stage of barbaric de- 
cadence to a progressive growth in civilization and 
enlightenment. 

Army of China. — The numerical strength of 
the Chinese army can not be definitely stated, but 
is variously estimated at from half a million to a 
million men. It consists of the regular troops of 
infantry and cavalry stationed at Peking, with those 
at Hai-tien, and a hereditary or privileged soldiery 
called " Bannermen." These latter troops are sel- 
dom required to drill, and are therefore undisci- 
plined, and are poorly armed. 

Each province is obliged to support all the 
forces needed for its own defense and for that re- 
quired for the defense of the empire, and hence the 
governors of provinces in time of peace seek to re- 
duce their military forces to a minimum ; corrup- 
tion of the most flagrant kind exists, and its baleful 
influence permeates the military as well as the civil 
administration. China is as backward in its tactics 
as in its armament, and the military drills are mere 
burlesques compared with those of other armies. 
In China the profession of arms is without honor. 
Soldiers are considered as the refuse of society, 
and by the policy of the Government both officers 
and men are kept in hopeless ignorance, and are de- 
void of sentiments of magnanimity. The efficiency 
of the separate parts of the Chinese army depends 
on the character of the governor or highest civil 
authority that rules each province. But, lacking 
uniformity in their aims and methods, uniformity 



The Armies of Etirope aiid Asia. 395 

is also wanting in the army ; so that the troops in 
no two provinces are alike armed and equipped, 
but are as diverse as the characters of the govern- 
ors who control them. Indeed, the result of Gen- 
eral Upton's observations can be tersely stated to be 
that in no particular is there anything to be emu- 
lated, but everything to be avoided. The policy of 
China is essentially peaceful, but she has been twice 
subjugated, and to-day bears the yoke of a foreign 
dynasty whose ancestors were despised as barbari- 
ans. Within our own time repeated rebellions have 
imperiled the existence of the Government, and 
have only been suppressed after years of devasta- 
tion, cruelty, and carnage. In the great Taeping 
rebellion the Government forces were repeatedly 
put to flight by the unorganized hordes who sought 
to throw off the imperial yoke, until finally China 
was obliged to call in foreign aid to recapture her 
cities. 

Conquered by Mongols and Manchoos, the pres- 
ent dynasty, ruling nearly four hundred million 
people, and boasting of an army of more than five 
hundred thousand men, has suffered within a few 
years a European army of less than twenty thou- 
sand men to march to its capital and dictate the 
terms of peace, 

China, servile in her admiration of the wisdom 
of past ages, attaining the highest stage of pagan 
civilization centuries before her competitors sprang 
into existence, remains motionless, a prey to corrup- 
tion and discord. Without well-organized forces, 
without good roads or other means of speedy con- 
centration, her seaboard provinces and even her 



396 Emory Upton, 

capital lie at the mercy of her enemies. If, revers- 
ing the picture, she were to adopt the Christian civ- 
ilization ; were to encourage purity, justice, truth, 
and integrity, by recognizing, as the basis of human 
action, responsibility to divine power ; if, imitating 
the example of Japan, she were to establish schools 
and academies for the education of the officers and 
men of her army and navy, and were to make them 
feel that they were honored agents for the preser- 
vation of peace at home and to insure respect 
abroad — who could compute the vast resources and 
military strength of her people ? 

The realization of visions of peace and of con- 
quest is within her grasp, but, delivered over to 
weakness, cruelty, ignorance, and superstition, his- 
tory has yet to record whether she shall continue 
to be an independent nation, or, like India, become 
the vassal of a nobler people. 

Army of India. — Upon the transfer of the gov- 
ernment of India from the East India Company to 
the Crown, a complete reorganization of the army 
was effected. The causes which led to this were 
briefly these, viz. : 

I. Irregular regiments, hastily equipped and led 
by brave and skillful English officers, fought with a 
zeal and steadiness approaching, if not equaling, 
that of the native regiments in the regular establish- 
ment. Owing to evils of detached service, by which 
many of the twenty-five European officers of each 
regiment sought employment in civil and political 
positions, these latter regiments were left in the hands 
of boys fresh from England who were without the 
slightest military experience ; and, even when this 



The Armies of Europe and Asia. 397 

did not occur, those who remained with their regi- 
ments in time of peace, and were ambitious of dis- 
tinction, were superseded at the opening of a cam- 
paign by officers hastily ordered back, whom years 
of detached service had unfitted for command. 

2. The periods of detached service being indefi- 
nite, many officers sought exemption from the hard- 
ships and restraints of military discipline, knowing 
that the surest road to distinction lay in the civil 
service, in which officers were frequently appointed 
governors of millions of people. 

3. Having grown old in such service, having en- 
joyed its pleasures and honors, having forgotten 
their tactics and regulations, their return to military 
duty produced jealousy and confusion, and was fol- 
lowed by the most dangerous and criminal of all 
experiments, that of sending men into action under 
incompetent leaders. 

Therefore, since the irregular regiments fought 
well during the mutiny under three or four English 
officers, it was to be hoped that each regular regi- 
ment should do equally good service at least with 
seven or eight English officers, instead of twenty- 
five, and thus leave a surplus available for staff duty 
and detached service. From this idea came the or- 
ganization of a staff corps in each presidency, em- 
bracing the combatant and non-combatant officers 
of the old Indian army. 

For these reasons all the officers then in the staff, 
the artillery, and cavalry were ultimately merged 
into one body, " the staff corps," in each of the three 
presidencies of Bengal, Bombay, and Madras. The 
transfer of an officer to this corps was conditioned 



398 Emory Upton, 

upon a certain proficiency in the native languages, 
in such a knowledge of his drill and duty as to 
qualify him to command a company of troops in all 
situations, and that his record should be such, while 
serving with his regiment, as to give evidence of 
his qualifications and fitness. This covers his pro- 
bationary period, and he is then required to pass an 
examination of considerable range to test his mili- 
tary study and attainments. 

After assignment to the staff corps, which is the 
ultimate destination of every European officer of 
the Indian army, the variety of service which they 
undergo is unequaled by that in any army in the 
world. Thus, they may serve in the commissariat, 
adjutant-general's, quartermaster-general's, or pub- 
lic works departments, with the native infantry or 
cavalry, or in the various branches of the civil 
service. 

General Upton concludes that the military insti- 
tutions of India present more features for our imi- 
tation than those of any army or country in Europe. 
In leading troops to battle the greatest skill is re- 
quired on the part of officers, especially when the 
latter have but little confidence in themselves and 
in their subaltern or company officers. In this re- 
spect England has set us an example of distributing 
military talent which, had it been followed by our 
Government in the late civil war, would have saved 
thousands of lives and millions of treasure. In 
another respect her example, in the opinion of the 
author, is worthy of imitation ; for she has suc- 
ceeded with an army of two hundred thousand men 
in conquering and keeping in subjection an empire 



The Armies of Europe and Asia. 399 

of two hundred million without a single permanent 
staff corps. In our army all three corps are closed ; 
the appointments are permanent, and no means are 
provided to weed out the inefficient or to encourage 
the aspiring. The military policy of the Govern- 
ment of India has unquestionably produced a bene- 
ficial effect in India upon the corps of officers, and 
has imparted to them a variety of military knowl- 
edge and experience not possessed by an}' other 
arm3^ 

At Calcutta we met a colonel who was a civil 
and military governor of four millions of people ; 
at Muscat and Bushire military officers were in- 
trusted with the diplomatic relations of India with 
Arabia and Persia; at the camp of Delhi the adju- 
tant-general had previously been quartermaster- 
general, and was anticipating the expiration of his 
five years' service, which would give him the com- 
mand of a brigade or a division. 

All the officers we met at Delhi and elsewhere 
in India gave evidence that, whether in a military 
or civil capacity, they had been acting in spheres 
of responsibility far greater than those occupied 
by officers of other armies, and as a consequence 
showed a capacity and self-confidence far above 
their rank. The results attained in India are worthy 
of our closest study, and suggest whether in the im- 
pending reorganization of our army we should not 
as the first step establish a vital and interchangeable 
relation between the staff and the line. This idea will 
be found to have become a fruitful one in Upton's 
later life, and one which became the most potent in 
influencing his subsequent activity and labors. 



400 Emory Upton. 

The Army of Persia. — The effect of Asiatic 
civilization is conspicuously illustrated in the army 
of Persia. Corruption pervades every branch of 
military administration. The soldier who is too 
poor to escape the draft buys his time from his offi- 
cers, and frequently remains at home when he is 
supposed to be in the ranks on the distant frontier. 
Even when following the colors of his regiment, by 
relinquishing his pay he may ply his trade or freely 
engage in commercial pursuits. Ordinarily the 
soldiers are small money-lenders, and the cavalry 
soldiers, with equal aptitude for gain, frequently 
hire out their horses or donkeys, and become the 
carriers of the country. 

So prevalent is the employment of soldiers in all 
trades and professions that, when at Teheran re- 
views or manoeuvres are ordered, it is not uncom- 
mon to see workmen, not suspected of being sol- 
diers, drop their tools, don their uniforms, and take 
their places in the ranks. The duty completed, they 
return their clothing and muskets to the depot, and 
again resume work. 

All these irregularities are well known, and are 
encouraged by the officers, who, in consequence of 
low salaries, seek through corrupt practices to eke 
out the means of support. 

In no service in the world is it difficult for offi- 
cers without principle to rob their government, and 
at the same time keep their accounts with apparent 
exactness. To avoid the danger of false muster, the 
soldier who is permanently absent is replaced by a 
substitute, who serves at a lower price ; to enable 
the officers to draw his pay, the soldier simply leaves 



The Armies of Europe and Asia. 401 

in their possession iiis seal with his name, which the 
substitute attaches to the rolls. 

With such relations between officers and sol- 
diers it is impossible for discipline to survive. The 
substitutes only receive the instruction necessary 
to personate the soldiers who are absent, and so 
ignorant are they of arms and their use that only 
those which are worthless are placed in their hands. 
The drill is nothing but noise and display. The 
manoeuvres are of the simplest kind. There is 
no commissariat ; each infantryman provides his 
own food, and each cavalryman his rations and 
forage. As each soldier knows he must eat, he 
forages at every opportunity, and transports his 
supplies on a horse or donkey. There being no 
wagon-routes, wheeled vehicles are practically un- 
known, and, as a consequence, the number of ani- 
mals accompanying an army often exceeds the num- 
ber of men. 

Bordered by Russia on the north, open to attack 
from Turkey on the west, accessible to England on 
the south, future events may soon prove that the 
capital of Persia, like that of all countries where 
military institutions are neglected, lies at the mercy 
of a few disciplined battalions. 

Before passing to the consideration of the mili- 
tary organizations of Europe, General Upton thus 
alludes to the future of India, and it will be seen 
that, writing nearly ten years ago, he has, with 
remarkable prophetic vision, clearly foreshadowed 
much of what has already become established his- 
torical fact : 



402 Emory Upton. 

The largest concentration of troops in any one 
district in India is in the Punjaub, where there are 
from thirty to thirty-five thousand men, or nearly 
one half the force of the Bengal Presidency. It 
was through this door that Alexander, Genghis 
Khan, and Tamerlane entered India, and it is the 
door through which many Indian officers confident- 
ly expect the Russians. 

The continued occupation of India by England 
must afford a subject of deep speculation to states- 
men, and all the causes that may contribute to pro- 
long her rule deserve attentive consideration. . . . 
Since the mutiny was crushed, the whole face of 
India has changed. The Suez Canal enables Eng- 
lish troops to be landed at Bombay in fewer weeks 
than before it took months, while the great lines of 
railway permit them to be sent directly to every 
important part of the empire. 

But without aid from England the railway sys- 
tem by itself is sufficient to enable sixty thousand 
British troops to hold India almost indefinitely, 
even against the defection of the entire native 
army. Starting from Bombay, one trunk line goes 
to Madras, and, by its branches, opens up all of the 
southern peninsula; another stretches across to 
Allahabad, and connects with the great line of the 
Ganges, already completed from Calcutta to within 
two hundred miles of Peshawer; a second cross- 
line is in process of construction from Agra in the 
direction of Ahmedabad, and is completed to Nus- 
seerabad ; while a third cross-line from Lahore is 
completed to Mooltan, and will soon be extended 



The Armies of Etirope and Asia. 403 

down the Indus to Kurrachee. As the Hnk between 
Madras and Calcutta may be supplied by sea, four 
great lines of communication will shortly be opened 
from the shores of the Indian Ocean to the lines of 
the Ganges. 

As the time has passed when the fate of India 
can be decided by a single battle, the lines of rail- 
way will be equally important in resisting invasion 
and in preserving peace. 

Thoroughly prepared to suppress insurrection 
and rebellion, it is only when England beholds the 
encroachments of Russia that she becomes alarmed 
for her Eastern possessions. Like a wild beast gloat- 
ing over its prey, she is conscious that the actual or 
supposed discontent of her subjects invites foreign 
nations to their rescue. Napoleon thought of eman- 
cipating them, and to Russia is ascribed the inherit- 
ance of his designs. Jealous of her great Northern 
rival, and not considering the barren wastes which 
extend hundreds of miles to the north and west of 
her frontiers, a future invasion, like a hideous night- 
mare, disturbs the dreams of the Indian rulers. The 
recent successes of Russia in Central Asia, by means 
of which the frontiers of the two powers have been 
brought nearly into contact, have increased the 
alarm ; while the present war between Russia and 
the Turks is regarded as the sure forerunner of the 
great conflict. 

With vast possessions stretching across two con- 
tinents, and with only one natural outlet to the At- 
lantic, Russia feels that geographically she has a 
right to Constantinople, and, by the force of tradi- 
tion, no less than by the irresistible weight of her 



404 Emory Upto7i. 

seventy million people, she demands, and ultimate- 
ly will conquer, a free passage to the sea. 

The expulsion of the Turks from Europe, when- 
ever it may occur, will increase the dangers of Eng- 
land. Availing themselves of the sympathy of their 
co-religionists, who revere the Sultan as the suc- 
cessor of the Prophet, it is not impossible that the 
Turks should seek to indemnify themselves in Asia 
for their losses in Europe. 

Largely outnumbering the Persians, and in every 
respect superior to them, the weakness of that king- 
dom invites subjugation ; pressing onward in the 
footsteps of Alexander and Tamerlane, forty million 
Mohammedans stretch forth their hands for deliv- 
erance, and long for the restoration of the empire 
of the Moguls. 

This may not be accomplished in one or a dozen 
campaigns ; but, supported and encouraged by Rus- 
sia, repeated invasions may involve the Indian Gov- 
ernment in such expenditures as to induce it, in 
deference to an opinion already existing in England, 
to abandon India to her fate. But, without dwell- 
ing on the probabilities of Turkish aggrandizement, 
it is possible that the fate of India may be settled 
nearer home. 

Constantly increasing, by her Eastern policy, the 
deadly feeling of hostility which already exists in 
Hussia against her, the moment the former occupies 
Constantinople, England must seize upon Egypt. 
Once secure in Constantinople, the fleets of England 
can no longer oppose the designs of Russia. Con- 
verting the Black Sea into an inland lake, thus in- 
suring her communications, a railroad from Trebi- 



The Armies of Europe and Asia. 405 

zond across to the valley of the Euphrates, and 
thence on to Damascus, will place Russia on the 
flank of England's line of communication. Thus 
brought face to face it is not impossible that these 
two great powers may change the face of Asia on 
the famous plain of Esdraelon. 

General Upton prefaces the results of his study 
and observations of the military organizations of 
Europe with these remarks : 

The study of military organization, to be profit- 
able, must not only embrace the objects for which 
armies are raised, but the means adopted to enable 
them to accomplish these objects. 

A glance at the armies of Asia shows that the 
Government of Japan, adopting a new civilization, 
has preserved its authority and consolidated its 
power by the maintenance of a military force of 
thirty-five thousand men, bearing the ratio of one 
thousand men to every million inhabitants. 

In China an army varying from five hundred 
thousand to one million men, bearing the ratio of 
one or two thousand to every one million of the 
population, through corrupt and faulty organiza- 
tion is unable to preserve the peace. As a conse- 
quence, insurrection and rebellion frequently del- 
uge the country with blood. 

In India, as in Japan, a well-organized army of 
two hundred thousand men, bearing the ratio of 
one thousand to one million inhabitants, preserves 
tranquillity throughout the empire. 

The chief object of all these armies is the main- 
tenance of order and peace within their borders. 



4o6 Emory Upton. 

Turning from Asia to Europe, a remarkable con- 
trast is presented. Claiming a higher civilization, 
we find from six to eight million young men taken 
from the family, the field, and the workshops to 
compose armies whose object is less the preserva- 
tion of peace and the present status of their gov- 
ernment than to contend for new territory and in- 
creased power in the ceaseless struggle for ascend- 
ency which has characterized the history of Europe 
for the past thousand years. 

To enable these vast armies to accomplish their 
mission, not only are the national resources ex- 
hausted, but human ingenuity is taxed to the ut- 
most. 

With the object for which they are maintained 
clearly in view, it is to the armies of Europe that 
we ought to look for the best military models ; and 
if, through remoteness from formidable neighbors, 
or through the difference of our institutions, we are 
permitted to deviate from these models, either in 
details or in numbers, it should be only for such 
reasons as commend themselves to common sense, 
and can be vindicated by the wisdom and experi- 
ence of other nations no less than ourselves. 

After giving in sufficient detail the strength of 
the armies of Italy, Russia, Austria, Germany, 
France, and England, together with a succinct ex- 
planation of the organization of the various staff 
departments, and the means employed for the re- 
cruiting of troops and education of the officers, our 
author devotes considerable attention to the modi- 
fications which have resulted from the modern im- 
provements in fire-arms, and in the tactics at pres- 



The Armies of Europe and Asia. 407 

ent existing among the infantry of the several coun- 
tries. He then sums up in a comprehensive and 
yet compact form the conclusions applicable to our 
own service, and presents his views of the necessary 
reforms that should receive the attention of our 
Government. 

These conclusions are at once so forcible and so 
radical in their scope that no mere brief can prop- 
erly present them to the reader or military student. 
They demand earnest study on the part of every 
military man, and the freest discussion, before pre- 
conceived notions, or the conservative influence of 
previous training in our present military organiza- 
tion, can properly present objections to their forci- 
ble arguments. 

In presenting the general principles which have 
governed the military nations of Europe in the or- 
ganization of armies, Upton groups these in twenty- 
three statements. 

Culling from these principles, we quote only 
those which are of the greatest importance, using 
his own forcible language, as the most efficacious 
for the general reader to get an outline of the con- 
clusions to which his study and observation brought 
him. 

Every citizen, in consideration of the protection 
extended to his life and property, is held to owe 
military service to his government. To equalize 
the burdens of military service, and to facilitate the 
equipment and mobilization of troops, each country 
is divided into military districts, to which are per- 
manently assigned army corps, divisions, brigades, 



4o8 Emory Upton. 

regiments, and battalions, which draw from the dis- 
tricts all their recruits both in peace and war. 

The army is maintained on two distinct foot- 
ings — that of peace and war — each of which is de- 
termined by political considerations and financial 
resources ; the ratio being generally that of one to 
two. The army on the peace-footing is but a train- 
ing-school to prepare officers and men for efficient 
service in time of war. The duration of military 
service and general principle of drafting recruits 
are similar in all European countries ; so that there 
exists in all a force undergoing training, called the 
regular or standing army ; a part which has com- 
pleted its active service, called the reserve ; another 
the army of the second line, composed of troops of 
all arms, soldiers who have before served with the 
colors ; and, finally, the great body of male citizens 
subject to military service in times of extreme ne- 
cessity. 

The line officers are in general educated for the 
military profession, at military academies, or are 
promoted from the ranks after displaying fitness 
for subordinate commands. The general staff offi- 
cers, who acquire the highest professional training 
and widest experience, are required to alternate 
their service in the staff with service in the line. 
They thus keep in sympathy with the troops, know 
their wants and fighting qualities, and know how 
to manoeuvre them in nearly every emergency that 
may arise. 

Annual or biennial reports are required of com- 
manding officers, which show the zeal, aptitude, 
special qualification, and personal character of every 



The Armies of Europe and Asia, 409 

subordinate under their command. Officers who 
manifest decided zeal and professional abihty may 
be rewarded by rapid promotion. Those who dis- 
play ignorance or incompetence, as evidenced by 
personal reports and special examinations, are not 
promoted, it being held that officers are maintained 
for the sole benefit of the Government. 

The Government increases its chances of suc- 
cess, promotes economy, and preserves the morale of 
the troops, by keeping the regiments, batteries, and 
squadrons up to their fighting strength. Detached 
service is avoided by setting aside in each organi- 
zation a number of non-combatants, such as arti- 
ficers, teamsters, etc., who are never counted in the 
fighting strength. The vacancies in each organiza- 
tion are filled partly by men who have formerly 
served with the colors, and partly by recruits, who 
are soon taught by the old soldiers. The evil of 
detached service among officers is avoided by a 
complete staff organization on an independent foot- 
ing, and especially by a separate organization of 
artillery and general military trains. 

By the application of these principles Prussia, 
in 1866, was enabled to dictate terms of peace to 
Austria after a short campaign of six weeks ; while 
in 1870, between the 15th of July and the ist of 
September, Germany mobilized her forces, crossed 
the frontier, overwhelmed a great army, forced it 
to seek the shelter of its fortifications, securely in- 
vested it, captured an emperor at the head of a 
relieving army, and destroyed what was supposed 
to be the strongest military empire on the globe. 
In the first war the Prussian loss in killed, including 
i3 



410 Emory Upton. 

those who died of wounds and disease, was 10,877, 
and in the latter war the total loss was 40,881. 

If we now compare our military policy during 
the first century of the republic with the present 
military policy of European nations, we shall find 
that the difference lies principally in this — that, 
while they prosecute their wars exclusively with 
trained armies, completely organized in all their 
parts, and led by officers specially educated, we 
have begun and have prosecuted most of our wars 
with raw troops whose officers have had to be edu- 
cated in the expensive school of war. As the re- 
sult of this policy the duration of our wars and 
the number of men called out have been as follows : 

War of the Revolution 7 years 395.858 

Warofi8i2 1)^ " 509,808 

War with Mexico 2 *' 100,454 

War of the rebellion 4 " 2,683,759 

In the war of the rebellion our losses in killed, 
including those who died of wounds and disease, 
were 304,369. The losses of the Confederates, as 
nearly as can be determined, were between two 
hundred and two hundred and fifty thousand men, 
making the total number of citizens who perished 
in the war exceed half a million. 

Our author concludes that in order to diminish 
the disparity in the loss of life, due to the difference 
between our military policy and that of Europe, 
two plans suggest themselves, either of which, if 
matured in time of peace, and adhered to in time of 
war, will enable us to prosecute our future cam- 
paigns with economy and dispatch. 



The Armies of Europe and Asia. 411 

The first plan is to so organize, localize, and 
nationalize the regular army that by the mere pro- 
cess of filling its cadres it may be expanded to such 
proportions as to enable it, without other aid, to 
bring our wars to a speedy conclusion. 

The second plan is to prosecute our future wars 
with volunteer infantry, supported by the regular 
artillery and cavalry, apportioning the regular offi- 
cers among the volunteers in such a manner that all 
of the staff departments, and, if possible, all of the 
companies, battalions, brigades, and higher organi- 
zations shall be trained and commanded by officers 
of military education and experience. 

Both of these plans, to be efficacious, must rest 
on the same foundation, viz. : 

1. The declaration that every able-bodied male 
citizen, between certain ages, owes his country mili- 
tary service — a principle thoroughly republican in 
its nature, as it classifies in the same category and 
exposes to the same hardships the rich and the poor, 
the professional and non-professional, the skilled 
and unskilled, the educated and uneducated. 

2. The division of the country into military dis- 
tricts and sub-districts, apportioning to them cer- 
tain military organizations whose cadres shall be 
recruited within the limits assigned. 

3. The abandonment by the Government of all 
payment of bounties, relying upon its right to draft 
men into the service whenever a district fails to fur- 
nish its quota. 

4. The assumption by the Government of the 
recruitment of its armies through the medium of 
the provost-marshal-general's department, as was 



412 Emory Upton. 

done by both governments toward the close of the 
late war. 

5. The inauguration of all the machinery for en- 
rolling and drafting the moment war is declared. 

6. The organization of regiments in all arms of 
the service, as in Europe, with depots representing 
them in the districts to which they belong, upon 
which depots requisitions shall be made by regi- 
mental commanders whenever vacancies are to be 
filled. It should be the duty of each depot to re- 
ceive, arm, equip, and train all the recruits who 
volunteer or are drafted, and to forward them to 
their regiments ; also, whenever recruits are wanted 
or men desert, to notify the provost-marshal of the 
district that the quota is deficient, in order that the 
number may be immediately supplied by volunteer- 
ing or drafting. 

7. All commissions to be issued by the President, 
apportioning the extra appointments among the 
States or military districts according to the number 
of troops furnished. 

8. All commissions in the expanded organization 
to be provisional for the war ; one third of the pro- 
motions to be reserved for distinguished skill and 
gallantry in battle, and to be made only on the 
recommendation of military commanders in the field 
or upon the report of boards specially appointed to 
investigate the act of skill or gallantry. 

9. Promotion of all officers, after expansion, to 
be made on two lists — one being that of the regular 
arm of service, or staff department, to which the 
officer belongs, the second being the provisional list 
in the arm of service to which he is apportioned. 



The Armies of Europe and Asia. 413 

Each officer, on the contraction of the army, to re- 
turn to duty with the rank attained in the regular 
list ; one third of the promotions in the regular list 
to be regarded as original vacancies, to be filled by 
selection from the provisional hst, no officer on the 
regular list being advanced more than one grade at 
a time ; all promotions to the grade of second-lieu- 
tenant in the regular list to be made from cadets 
graduating from the Military Academy, and from 
Heutenants on the provisional list. 

In the further presentation of this subject the 
author states that " neither of these plans can be 
successfully executed, nor can any other plan be 
devised for prosecuting our wars with economy of 
life and treasure, without special legislation looking 
to the increased efficiency and radical reorganiza- 
tion of the army." He then proceeds to discuss in 
detail the various branches of this important sub- 
ject—the staff, personal reports, the suggested re- 
organization of the adjutant-general's department, 
the quartermaster's, the pay, signal, artillery and 
ordnance, and engineer corps. He next supple- 
ments this with his views as to the organization 
of the various arms of the service, both on a peace 
and war footing, and shows that his proposed peace 
establishment can be made expansive for time of 
war by the addition of two hundred and ten offi- 
cers, and a slight diminution in the strength of the 
enlisted men over that required by the present in- 
expansive organization. The whole of his conclu- 
sions, being based on a careful study of foreign sys- 
tems, and properly modified by the results of his 
own experience in our own service in peace and 



4H Emory Upton. 

war, are worthy of and entitled to the careful study 
of our military officers and statesmen. He says, 
finally : 

In drawing my conclusions I have not been in- 
fluenced by convictions as to what plans may or 
may not be adopted ; but, recognizing in the fullest 
degree that our present geographical isolation hap- 
pily relieves us from the necessity of maintaining a 
large standing army, I have sought to present the 
best system to meet the demands of judicious econ- 
omy in peace, and to avert unnecessary extrava- 
gance, disaster, and bloodshed in time of war. 

Should we recoil before the small expenditures 
required to give us most of the advantages of an 
expansive peace establishment? We ought to bear 
in mind that in interest alone on our national debt, 
mostly accumulated as the fruit of an expensive 
military policy, we have paid in the last ten years 
more than eleven hundred and fifty million dollars. 

The organization of national volunteers would 
give us in time of peace a regular army, a reserve, 
and the militia, and would enable us in time of war 
to prosecute our campaigns with vigor and econ- 
omy, and with that regard for human life which be- 
comes a free people. 

In presenting this comprehensive report of his 
investigations abroad, it is needless to say that his 
conclusions and recommendations attracted the at- 
tention of the military profession, and created an 
active discussion on its merits in the daily press and 
military journals. And, while adverse criticisms of 



The Armies of Europe and Asia, 415 

many of its minor points were made, it is believed 
that no sound objection has been made or can be 
made against it as a whole. The question has not 
been settled as to what shall be our future military 
organization, but many of our prominent civil and 
military men are agreed that the present system is 
obsolete, and must be abandoned in the near future. 
Whatever new system may replace it, it is certain 
that the main features must be very similar to those 
which have been so boldly sketched by General 
Upton. 



CHAPTER XI. 

THE MILITARY POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

An earnest believer in the existence of those 
higher quahties of our nature which cement men 
together in the strong bonds of brotherly comrade- 
ship, General Upton was capable of the most loyal 
friendship. His education and life in the army had 
fostered this natural tendency, and he had made 
many close friends, to whom he was in the habit 
of openly confiding the thoughts, opinions, and as- 
pirations which actuated him through life. To one 
especially. Colonel Henry A. Du Pont, he was deep- 
ly attached. Classmates at West Point, brother ar- 
tillery-officers during the war, associated for months 
together on the Board for the Assimilation of Tac- 
tics, and in constant, unrestricted correspondence, 
Upton's loyal heart experienced a reciprocity of af- 
fection peculiarly gratifying and almost essential to 
the demands of his nature. 

Du Pont, who had gained the honors of his class 
at West Point, possessed a fine literary taste and a 
cultivated intellect which attracted and charmed Up- 
ton's practical and active mind. The special char- 
acteristics of each were complementary, but not an- 
tagonistic, and it was natural, therefore, that Upton, 
in writing his report, should turn to Du Pont for 
that criticism which he so much needed for his own 



Military Policy of the United States, 417 

encouragement and confidence. In full sympathy 
with Upton's aims, Du Pont freely placed his talents 
at his friend's disposal. 

This generosity on the one part and its recogni- 
tion on the other are evident in the following- ex- 
tracts taken from letters written by Upton to Du 
Pont. These, also, show how the vastly more im- 
portant work, " The Military Policy of the United 
States," grew out of the study of his report on the 
" Armies of Asia and Europe " ; and, finally, they are 
valuable in exhibiting the origin of some of the 
more important views accepted by Upton as the 
fundamental principles upon which he construct- 
ed his " Military PoKcy." 

He was led to the study of our military history, 
and to seek the causes of our existing military pol- 
icy, in contrasting the condition of our army with 
those of other countries. He very soon found that 
a thorough mastery of his subject necessitated care- 
ful historical research, a close scrutiny of recorded 
events, and an unsparing sacrifice of all his leisure 
time. But he also became convinced that he had 
happened on a mine which, properly worked, would 
yield a treasure of the greatest value to his profes- 
sion, and, above all, to the country. He therefore 
resolved to undertake its systematic development. 

While he did not live to complete his work, yet 
it was in ^uch a condition at the time of his death 
that it only required some finishing touches. These 
could best be given by his devoted friend Colonel 
Du Pont, to whom, with firm reliance in his ability 
and friendship, he confided the completion of his 
task. 



4i8 Emory Upton. 

Having been permitted to read the original 
manuscript of Upton's work by the courtesy of the 
editor, in order to embody a brief outline of its 
scope in this memoir, we finished the perusal with 
a deep sense of the military ability, enthusiastic 
patriotism, and wise statesmanship which animated 
its author from the beginning to the end. 

The extracts of the letters referred to above 
form a sufficient introduction to this outhne : 

Fort Monroe, April i, iSy'j. — . . . My new 
duties will be very congenial to me. I have super- 
intendence of all the studies of the officers and of 
the practical duties in infantry. In the one depart- 
ment of strategy and grand tactics I shall hope to 
repay to the Government all of the expense it in- 
curred in sending me abroad. 

West Point is, in my judgment, far superior to 
any academy abroad for preparatory training of 
officers. But, once in the service, we have nothing 
to compare with the war academies of Europe, ex- 
cept the Artillery School. You know how igno- 
rant our generals were, during the war, of all the 
principles of generalship. Here, I think, we can 
correct that defect and form a corps of officers who 
in any future contest may prove the chief reliance 
of the Government. 

My report has yet to be written. ]^ doubt not 
it will disappoint many people, as I intend to ex- 
pose the vices of our system, instead of simply de- 
scribing the organizations abroad. We can not 
Germanize, neither is it desirable, but we can ap- 
ply the principles of common sense, and by devis- 



Military Policy of the United States. 419 

ing a plan in time of peace save the Government, 
in the event of war, much of the blood and treasure 
it has expended in its former contests. 

Scptejubcr jo, iSjy. — . . . I am going to trace 
our military policy from the beginning of the Revo- 
lutionary War to the present time, and, if possible, 
expose its folly and criminality. In reading over 
Washington's letters, I find many valuable descrip- 
tions of the very system that we are pursuing to- 
day. The account of the battle of the Brandy- 
wine was very interesting. Although it can not be 
claimed that our forefathers distinguished them- 
selves on that day. Congress thought proper to 
reward their valor by voting a bounty of thirty 
hogsheads of rum as a compliment to their gallant 
services. 

April II, i8y8. — . . . I have, as I have already 
informed you, the intention of writing a book called 
" The Military Policy of the United States," but by 
severely quoting history it would so bear down 
upon the militia as to make such an uproar as pos- 
sibly to destroy the value of the book. Should we 
have war with England, ten or twenty years hence, 
and begin it as we did the last war, even with fifty 
thousand regulars, she could lay every one of our 
large sea-coast cities under contribution, and it 
would require two or three years to shake her off. 
I have a large amount of material already col- 
lected and arranged. Tell me what you think of 
the project. 

The present drift of politics is leading to the 
destruction of property, and I would not be sur- 
prised to see universal repudiation of State and 



420 Emory Upton. 

municipal debts, accompanied by great private dis- 
tress and prostration of business. In such a case 
our military policy would be as wretched and fee- 
ble as that of China. 

November 6, i8j8. — . . . I send by express what 
I consider the driest chapter of my proposed book, 
extending from the War of 1812 to the Florida War. 
The manuscript of the Revolution takes up two 
hundred and thirty-five pages; from the Revolu- 
tion to 1 81 2, one hundred pages; War of 18 12, one 
hundred and fifty pages ; this chapter, seventy- 
six ; total, five hundred and fifty-five pages. The 
Florida War, Mexican War, rebellion, and conclu- 
sion, will take as much more. I have given up the 
hope of making the book popular with the general 
reader, as, to give it value with Senators and Rep- 
resentatives, it must be filled with facts and statis- 
tics. Please criticise what you see, as a friend, not 
sparing my feelings. Tell me if there is a spirit of 
captiousness, fault-finding, or personal prejudice. 
. . . General Sherman is very anxious to have me 
go on with the work, but he tells me that I will re- 
ceive much abuse. He has read up to the War of 
18 12, and says I arraign the poHticians as " extrava- 
gantly blind." My endeavor is to trace responsi- 
bility in every instance to its source, as the only 
means of producing a change for the better. 

November ig, i8j8. — The manuscript arrived this 
evening, and, after glancing over your criticisms 
and suggestions, there is scarcely one that I shall 
not be glad to adopt. Where you say I am too 
strong, I shall carefully amend. The one danger to 
which I am exposed is putting things in an offensive 



Military Policy of the United States. 421 

light, when bare facts would better speak for them- 
selves. . . . Both General Sherman and General Gar- 
field have read the manuscript up to this chapter. 
The War of 18 12 I feared would disgust them, but 
they say it is all right, adding the caution that I 
ought to fortify every assertion. . . . The book can 
not do immediate good, so I shall be in no hurry. 
The facts, however, may in future be of service to 
the statesman, and hence I am willing to collect 
them. The abuse for my pains I expect will be un- 
limited. . . . You ask if the President has dele- 
gated to generals the power to call out the militia. 
It was done during the Florida War, and also at the 
beginning of the Mexican War. In the late war the 
Fifth Artillery and all the new infantry regiments 
were raised by proclamation of President Lincoln, 
for which he could have been impeached, but Con- 
gress afterward legalized his action. I shall try to 
bring out all these facts, to show that our danger 
lies, not in having a regular army, but in the want 
of one. 

November 28, i8y8. — . . . Your difficulty about 
the militia, I think, has been solved by substituting 
the word " authorized " for " delegated." In the 
Seminole War General Jackson was authorized to 
call out the militia, but he was berated by the Sen- 
ate committee for substituting volunteers instead. 

January ij, i8yg. — . . . I have glanced over your 
criticisms and suggestions sufficiently to discover 
that the manuscript can be greatly improved. 
They have been made with your usual care and 
judgment, and I am very grateful for them. Your 
criticism on my tendency to long sentences is emi- 



422 Emory Upton. 

nently just, and I shall profit by it. I never get 
involved in one without thinking of Evarts. ... I 
feel that in submitting the manuscript to you, I 
shall escape much criticism not only as to style but 
to manner. . . . The book ought to be a candid 
presentation of facts bearing always on the final re- 
sponsibility of Congress. 

Until our Representatives appreciate this re- 
sponsibility, we shall witness no improvement in 
our military policy. The staff, I expect, will defeat 
the present bill, and, as a result, the next Congress 
will not spare. Very shrewdly they pretend that 
it is designed to exalt the General of the Army 
above the Secretary of War, or the military above 
the civil power. 

The facts which you will yet discover will enable 
me to take the ground that neither by the Consti- 
tution nor the laws is the Secretary of War entitled 
to exercise command, and that, whenever he de- 
parts from the sphere of administration to control 
military operations, he is nothing more nor less 
than a usurper. This is a little strong ; but when 
one President has been impeached by the House 
for attempting to remove a Secretary who claimed 
that his orders were the President's orders, I think 
it time that some one should present his position to 
the army in its proper light. 

The Constitution, laws, decisions of the Supreme 
Court, and of the Attorney-General, nowhere give 
him the authority to command. In administration 
he is independent of the President, and ought to 
be, as thereby the purse is separated from the 
sword. 



Military Policy of the United States. 423 

Congress undoubtedly has the right to enable 
him to make all contracts for supplies, etc. This 
power belongs to it under the constitutional right 
to raise and support armies. Could it give him the 
right to command, then the army could at any mo- 
ment pass under the absolute control of Congress. 
It was to prevent this that the Constitution declares 
that the President shall be the commander-in-chief 
of the army and navy. ... I have gone far enough 
to see that most of our trouble has been caused by 
adhering to the fallacy of State sovereignty, and I 
wish, therefore, to develop the supreme power of 
Congress to raise armies more fully. 

October j/, i8'j(^. — I was much gratified with 
your commendation of the tone and method of the 
first chapter (of the civil war), and your suggestions 
shall be heeded. There should be no confusion in 
the names of the classes of troops. Volunteers can 
become veterans but not regulars. As to McDowell, 
he comes out so badly from the second Bull Run, 
that it is but charity to speak a good word for him 
at the first. Besides, with raw troops it is neck or 
nothing, dash or defeat. McClellan was always ac- 
cused of being tardy and timid. Jackson, one of 
the best leaders of raw troops in history, always 
acted with blind confidence. It was the only chance 
he had of success. . . . The campaign of 1862 is 
very difficult. If I make it short, the reader may 
doubt my facts and conclusions. If too long, he 
may weary of the subject. If you want to know 
who was the cause of a three years' war after we 
created a disciplined army of six hundred thousand 
men, it was Stanton. But Stanton did not create 



424 Emory Upton. 

the system — the system created Stanton. This I 
wish to prove beyond contradiction. 

December 28, i8yg. — To-morrow I shall finish the 
original draft of the campaign of 1862. Its volume 
is startling. Twice I destroyed all that I had fin- 
ished, because it fell short of carrying conviction. 
It may astonish you that I now regard McClellan, 
in his military character, as a much-abused man. 
For his political blunders he paid the penalty of 
removal ; but the difference of opinion between him 
and the Administration would probably never have 
arisen but for the interference of Stanton. He was 
at the bottom of all the disasters of the year 1862, 
and, if this fact can be established, then the blame 
can be laid upon a system which still permits the 
Secretary of War to usurp military command. I 
began the work with the intention of avoiding poli- 
tics ; but it is impossible. Every military law has 
politics behind it, and the treatment will fall short 
unless every defect noticeable in the law is traced 
to its final cause. 

February 28, 18S0. — You know at one time I tried 
to avoid political entanglements, but it is impos- 
sible. When I take up the revision, the fallacy of 
State sovereignty must be exposed. It lies at the 
root of all the weakness in our military system. 
Did you see, for example, in the Florida War, that 
we went through the regular steps — first the mili- 
tia, then the volunteers, and lastly fell back on the 
regulars ? 

The Mexican chapter brings you up to the re- 
bellion, but I shall yet have to insert a chapter on 
command and administration, which will bring out 



Military Policy of the United States. 425 

the controversy between General Scott and Jeff 
Davis, with the famous decision of Attorney-Gen- 
eral Gushing, that "the order of a Cabinet minister 
is valid, as the order of the President, without any 
reference to or consultation with him." So long as 
this decision stands, we shall have Stantons who will 
not hesitate to usurp all the functions of the Presi- 
dent and the general-in-chief. I shall discuss the 
case theoretically, and then trace its influence in 
prolonging the rebellion from one to four years. 

June ig, 1880. — Sometimes, I am free to admit, 
I get discouraged. The McClellan question has 
run the manuscript up by nearly four hundred 
pages. The campaign of 1862, the most critical of 
the war, is hardly in shape for your painstaking 
revision. I fear I have made too many quotations, 
and yet nothing will be received as condemnatory 
of Stanton's interference unless substantiated by 
documentary proof. 

It will be noticed, from the dates of the above 
letters, that Upton accomplished his arduous labor 
within the short period of two and a half years, and 
this is the more striking when we remember that 
he could only devote himself to it in the intervals 
occurring between his official duties. So wide is 
the range of his researches, and so many and im- 
portant are the matters that receive his attention, 
that it is possible here to give but the merest pass- 
ing notice of his voluminous manuscript. He has 
divided his subject into its several natural and 
component parts, and has endeavored to so propor- 
tion them according to their importance as to form 



426 Emory Upton. 

a complete and harmonious structure. These di- 
visions, being those which mark the military epochs 
of our history, are : 

1. The Military Policy during the Revolution. 

2. From the Revolution to the War of 18 12. 

3. During the War of 18 12. 

4. From the War of 18 12 to the Florida War. 

5. During the Florida War. 

6. During the Mexican War. 

7. From the Mexican War to the War of the 
Rebellion. 

8. During the rebellion as far as 1862, where 
the manuscript ends. 

In each of these he gives a brief outline of the 
military condition of the country at the commence- 
ment of the period, the laws which controlled the 
military organization, the measures adopted to raise, 
equip, arm, subsist, and pay the forces employed, 
and an analysis of the several campaigns which 
resulted. He searches for the causes that brought 
about disaster, shows unmistakably their common 
parentage, and proves that most of our difficulties 
and dangers have been precipitated by a repeti- 
tion of blunders which wise legislation and states- 
manship should have prevented from recurring. 
He presents throughout the whole a clearly out- 
lined military policy, based upon the Constitution, 
and demonstrates by irresistible arguments that it 
is essential not only for the future prosperity of the 
country, but for its continued safety and existence. 

The Revolutionary period is characterized by 
the most flagrant corruption, the worst of all bad 
financial systems, and the most imbecile government 



Military Policy of the United States. 427 

and control of the army. The history of the war is 
the recital of stupendous blunders. It was carried 
on by a Continental Congress, destitute of executive 
power, issuing " resolves " to practically independ- 
ent States, whose troops professed no allegiance to 
Congress and but little to the States themselves. 
The troops, being enlisted for short periods, poorly 
armed, ill clad, and half starved, were forced to act 
on the defensive against a force superior in numbers 
and discipline, and should (by all the laws of proba- 
bility) have been totally defeated and dispersed. 
That one of the foremost military powers of Europe 
failed to keep so rich and fertile a country in sub- 
jection, its people being so few and so disunited, 
and controlled by so indifferent a military policy, 
will ever be an historical mystery. Yet, by a series 
of what we must regard as providential circum- 
stances, this ragged, half-starved, non-cohesive Con-' 
tinental army contrived to rescue the country from 
despotic government. To the blunders of England, 
the timely aid of France, and to the peculiar con- 
dition of European affairs, much of our success was 
due. Often so delicately poised was the balance, 
that its inclination could scarcely be predicted. 
Twice were dictatorial powers conferred on Wash- 
ington, who, even in the most gloomy period, and 
in times of deepest distress, by his steadfast patri- 
otism, unconquerable tenacity, and undoubted mili- 
tary talents, dissipated the clouds of discontent and 
revivified the national hope. As a central figure in 
the Revolution, in encouraging his frozen veterans 
to hold fast, to suffer, and to endure, relying on a 
future recompense when the present offerings were 



428 Emory Upton. 

barren, while he was at the same time almost with- 
out hope of successful resistance, and the victim of 
the worst military policy that could be devised by 
human ignorance and imbecility, Washington is 
without a peer in history. His Revolutionary expe- 
rience should be made the classic study of every 
child in the land, that his example should sink deep 
in its mind as the one true type of disinterested 
patriotism, and to whom it owes, under Providence, 
the blessings of the exuberant freedom that we now 
enjoy. 

The lessons clearly taught by the Revolution- 
ary War are outlined briefly: i. Any unwise or 
feeble military policy is wasteful in men, money, 
and material ; no sound reason can be advanced for 
the adoption of such a policy that can not with 
equal force be urged for a stronger one. That the 
military policy of the Continental Congress result- 
ed in great losses, and was carried on at great ex- 
pense and sacrifice, is shown by ample statistics 
obtained from the unquestioned authority of the 
public records ; the total number of troops enhsted, 
many for very short terms, amounted to nearly four 
hundred thousand men, and had entailed an expend- 
iture in pensions alone of over eighty million dol- 
lars. 

2. Any nation attempting to combat disciplined 
troops with raw levies must maintain an army at 
least double that of the enemy, and even then with- 
out any guarantee of success. That voluntary en- 
listments based on patriotic sentiment, or on the 
payment of bounties, can not be relied on to supply 
troops for a prolonged war, but that the draft, 



Military Policy of the Uttited States. 429 

either with or without such enhstments, is the only 
safe rehance of a government in time of war. 

3. That short enhstments at the commencement 
of a war compel the Government to resort to boun- 
ties, or the draft ; that they are always destructive 
of discipline, constantly expose an army to disaster, 
and inevitably prolong w^ar with its attendant evils. 

4. That regular troops engaged for the war are 
the only safe reliance, and, in every point of view, 
the best and most economical, 

5. That disciphne gives value to troops ; that it 
is the fruit of long training, and can only be had 
with a good corps of officers. 

6. That the insufficiency of mere numbers to 
counterbalance the laxity of discipline should con- 
vince us that our policy in peace and war should 
be to have, in the words of Washington, " a good 
rather than a large army." 

The mistakes committed during the Revolution 
did not prevent their repetition in the succeeding 
wars. The exultation and false security which re- 
sulted from the miraculous preservation of our lib- 
erties under the most trying and adverse circum- 
stances, gave birth to a fallacious principle which 
has already cost the country great treasure and 
thousands of the lives of its best citizens. The 
belief that a " standing army is dangerous to the 
liberties of the country," readily accepted by the 
people, is but a counterfeit truth. Its falsity is ap- 
parent when the clear distinction is made between 
an army of citizens who owe military allegiance to 
the country, created by the sovereign will of the 
people, and one composed of the hirelings of des- 



430 Emory Upton. 

potic power. But the fallacious statement has 
found favor in the mouths of demagogues, and has 
been the key to unlock Pandora's box in the suc- 
cessive wars that have from time to time occurred. 

Passing to the period from the close of the 
Revolution till the adoption of the Constitution, 
our author shows that, no attention having been 
paid to Washington's recommendation regarding 
the proper peace establishment, the army became 
a mere cipher in efficiency, and this was due to 
several causes. State sovereignty was arrayed 
against national unity, and was the primary cause. 
In 1784 the army was reduced to eighty persons; 
in 1785 Congress was forced to increase it to seven 
hundred for one year, in order to garrison the fron- 
tier posts, but the officers were apportioned among 
the States from which the troops were drawn. In 
1787 the seven hundred men were raised for three 
years. 

The Constitution created the war power of 
Congress, which thereafter became the responsible 
agent for the establishment of the armies of the 
republic. In 1789 the Secretary of War was made 
subject to the President instead of to Congress, and, 
because of the serious defect of non-expansion of 
the peace establishment, the President could only 
call out the militia or the undisciplined troops in 
emergencies, but could not increase the regular 
army by a single man. By the act of 1791 the 
power of appointing officers was transferred from 
the President to the Governors of States, and was 
practically a return to the methods in use during 
the Confederation. 



Military Policy of the United States. 431 

In his treatment of the subject during this pe- 
riod, General Upton exhibits the successive changes 
in organization through which the army passed, 
quoting the acts of Congress relating thereto ; 
shows clearly the causes which in the transition 
period from the Confederation to the adoption of 
the Constitution affected its strength and efhciency ; 
outlines with sufficient brevity the events in which 
conflicts against the operation of law required the 
use of armed forces, such as Shays's rebellion in 
Massachusetts, and the whisky rebellion in Penn- 
sylvania, with their attendant lessons ; traces the in- 
fluence of congressional action in defining, limit- 
ing, and modifying the powers of the President 
and the Secretary of War ; portrays the effect of 
the military policy in the disasters attending the 
operations of the land-forces in the War of 181 2, 
and contrasts these with the brilliant victories 
gained by the navy, which are shown to be due to 
its better policy of administration and superior or- 
ganization. 

It is almost impossible to read with patience, or 
without deep humiliation, the recital of the cam- 
paigns of the War of 18 12. The attempts to dis- 
perse a small force of British regulars which had 
captured Hull's army at Detroit, defeated and capt- 
ured Winchester's command at Frenchtown, once 
besieged Fort Meigs, and twice invaded Ohio, and 
only met with one small rebuff at the hands of a 
stripling of twenty-one years of age, in command of 
one hundred and sixty regulars at Fort Stephen- 
son, convey a military lesson of the highest impor- 
tance. Exclusive of the hastily organized and half- 



432 Emory Upton. 

filled regiments of regulars, it is shown that fifty 
thousand militia were called out from the States ot 
Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and Vir- 
ginia, to withstand a force of only eight hundred 
British regulars and their Indian allies in the 
Northwest. Equal prodigality and humiliation 
characterized the operations in the North, and offi- 
cial data show that during the year 1813 a total 
force of sixty-six thousand three hundred and sev- 
enty-six, mostly militia, were employed to observe a 
force of but twenty -six hundred British regulars and 
sailors. Employing raw troops and acting on the 
principle of short enlistments in the Creek War in 
Alabama necessitated the use of fifteen thousand 
militia to withstand a force of not more than fifteen 
hundred Indians. In 1 8 14 the capture of Washington 
and the destruction of its public buildings complet- 
ed the national humiliation. Intimately connected 
with the disasters of that year is the usurpation by 
the Secretary of War of military command in the 
field, and his interference in the plans of the mili- 
tary commanders, until the President was forced 
to resume his constitutional prerogative, and to 
direct that " the Secretary of War should give no 
order to any officer commanding a district without 
previously receiving Executive sanction." 

Even the brilliant victory at New Orleans fur- 
nishes its example of lack of discipline, insubor- 
dination, and total disregard of obedience, which 
threatened for a time the success of our arms. As 
an evidence of our most unfortunate military con- 
duct of the war, although at the same time of the 
liberality of the republic, it is stated that the pen- 



Military Policy of the United States. 433 

sioners of the War of 181 2 received from the public 
Treasury, during the fiscal year of i873-'74, the sum 
of over two million dollars. 

In this recital General Upton marshals his his- 
torical facts in the strongest array, and reaches his 
conclusions by reasoning as rigid and unfanciful as 
the supporting facts themselves. 

Upon the close of the War of 18 12 the army, by 
the act of March 3, 1815, ceased to be provisional 
and became a permanent organization, which, to- 
gether with an increase in the number of cadets at 
the Military Academy, assured the cultivation of 
the military art. From this time, whenever the 
regular army met the enemy, it gave the best assur- 
ances of the wisdom of these measures. It not only 
sustained the national honor and preserved the mill- 
tary art, but established the standard of discipline 
for the volunteers and militia in future wars, and 
furnished competent military commanders whose 
records are not without credit. 

Passing by the many interesting questions that 
had a most important bearing upon the military 
profession during the interval up to the Mexican 
War, and which the author discusses in the happiest 
manner, we refer briefly to some points developed 
in his analysis of the Mexican War. 

So brilliant were the campaigns conducted by 
Generals Taylor and Scott, that the statement made 
by the author, that the war was fought under the 
same system of laws and executive orders as that of 
1812, seems almost paradoxical. But the explana- 
tion shows that, in spite of our vicious military 
policy, the causes which brought such renown to 
19 



434 Emory Upton. 

our arms are to be found in the military weakness 
of our adversary and the excellence of our regular 
army. He shows that we had ample time to pre- 
pare for the war, which was to be one of inva- 
sion and conquest ; that the regular army, which 
amounted to less than seventy-five hundred men in 
May, 1846, might have been expanded so that at 
least eight thousand could have been given Taylor 
at Corpus Christi before the opening of the cam- 
paign ; that, instead of adopting so wise a measure, 
contingent authority was conferred on him to call 
for volunteers from the Governors of Texas and 
Louisiana, without there being the slightest means 
provided for their equipment, supply, or payment ; 
and that events forced him to open the campaign 
against an organized force of six thousand of the 
enemy with a strength of but twenty-two hundred 
and twenty-two men. 

The responsibihty of putting in jeopardy this 
small body of regular troops, and almost sacrificing 
the advantages of a first success, rests upon Con- 
gress, and in a measure upon the President. It" ex- 
tricated itself by the two battles of Palo Alto and 
Resaca de la Palma, scoring for itself a victory 
which was due no less to the courage and discipline 
of its men and officers than to the skill of its com- 
mander. For these had been trained for six months 
in the camp at Corpus Christi, under officers four 
fifths of whom had received military education, 
while many had also had experience in the Florida 
War. 

It was not until after these successes that the 
volunteers reached Point Isabel, and afforded a 



Military Policy of the United States. 435 

striking instance of mismanagement and ignorant 
criminality on the part of the Government. Before 
the volunteering, commenced in excitement, could 
be stopped, over eight thousand were sent to Gen- 
eral Taylor wholly destitute of equipment, arms, 
transportation, and indeed of everything needed for 
aggressive or defensive warfare, so that they were 
compelled to remain near this depot until the end 
of their enlistment (three months), and until they 
were discharged ! They returned to their homes 
without firing a shot, and suffered a loss of one hun- 
dred and forty-five by disease, but twenty-five less 
than the total of our killed and wounded in the two 
battles of the 8th and 9th of May, 1846. 

So quickly did the country respond to the call 
of the President of May 13, 1846, that General Tay- 
lor found it difficult to employ and subsist the vol- 
unteers who flocked to his standard, and he was 
compelled to leave over six thousand behind, which, 
however, by subsequent drill and discipline, formed 
an excellent army of the second line. The battle of 
Monterey was fought by his army of two divisions 
of regulars and one division of volunteers, six thou- 
sand in all. Buena Vista was fought by trained 
volunteers, whose valor justified his foresight in 
having them trained and disciplined. In this noted 
battle the enemy, twenty thousand strong, were ut- 
terly defeated by forty-three hundred volunteers, 
supported by but four hundred and fifty-three regu- 
lar infantry and artillery. At the critical moment 
the splendid courage and skillful handling of the 
regular batteries, which, in the language of General 
Taylor, were " always in action at the right time 



43^ Emory Upton. 

and in the right place," inspired the whole army, 
and snatched victory from almost certain defeat. 

Scott's campaign affords striking lessons and 
many warnings of the fatal military policy adopted 
by the Government. After a series of extraordi- 
nary successes and remarkable trials, he reached 
Puebla, within three days' march of the enemy's 
capital, with an army reduced by expiration of 
service and sickness to five thousand eight hundred 
and twenty effective men. Here he was compelled 
to remain on the defensive for more than two 
months, while the enemy, profiting by the delay, 
recruited and reorganized his army to over thirty 
thousand men and one hundred pieces of artillery. 
And it was not until the 7th of August that General 
Scott, after receiving recruits in driblets, could 
muster ten thousand effective men, and secure the 
succession of marvelous victories which, on the 14th 
of September, culminated in the capture of the city 
of Mexico. 

The military legislation with which Congress 
busied itself during this war receives sharp criticism 
from the pen of General Upton. Here and there 
are found acts which receive commendation, but it 
must be confessed that the major part, as exhibited 
by him, and clearly supported by the strongest 
array of facts, is alike discreditable to the statesman- 
ship of our legislators and to the common sense of 
humanity. This period is so fully treated that we 
must content ourselves with commending the whole 
chapter to the careful study of every citizen who 
has at heart the honor of his country, that his 
pride may not blind him to the serious defects 



Military Policy of the United States. 437 

which, uncorrected, may yet prove a danger to our 
future liberties, and to our existence as a nation. 

At the close of the Mexican War the army was 
again reduced from thirty thousand eight hundred 
and ninety to ten thousand three hundred and 
twenty men, and the only trace left by it on the 
military organization was the addition of a single 
regiment of mounted rifles, the increase of each 
regiment of artillery by two companies, and the ad- 
dition of one major to each infantr}' regiment. The 
army consisted then of fifteen regiments, varying in 
strength from five hundred and fifty-eight to eight 
hundred men each, without any provision for future 
contingencies. This was partially remedied by the 
act of 1850, which authorized the President to make 
use of the expansive principle to those regiments 
serving at remote posts and on the Western frontier, 
but it was not till i853-'54 that advantage was taken 
of this authority. Too feeble to afford protection 
to the vast territory, the army received, by the act 
of March 3, 1855, two additional regiments of cav- 
alry and two of infantry, making the total number 
of companies one hundred and ninety-eight, and 
which would have aggregated eighteen thousand 
three hundred and forty-nine men had the expan- 
sive principle been applied. 

In 1858, as a measure of fancied economy, a 
regiment of mounted volunteers was authorized for 
Texas and two for Utah, whose officers were ap- 
pointed from the States furnishing the troops. The 
principal military operations in this period, from 
1848 to 1861, were confined to Indian troubles and 
the Utah Expedition, which had the effect of trans- 



43 8 Emory Upton. 

f erring nearly all the troops of the regular army 
west of the Mississippi. 

As an historical study, that part of General Up- 
ton's work which we have so far briefly reviewed 
would alone be of the greatest interest, and amply 
repay attentive study. It is, however, but the pre- 
lude to the more careful presentation and analysis 
of the first years of the great civil war. Himself a 
prominent actor in many of its most important cam- 
paigns, he displays in this branch of his subject a 
masterly power of analysis, an intimate knowledge 
of the controlling circumstances, a settled convic- 
tion, and an earnest belief in the theoretical truth 
which he has set out to demonstrate. It forms by 
far the greater part of his work, and therefore can 
hardly be summarized within the assigned limits of 
this memoir. We can only refer, in a somewhat dis- 
connected manner, to a few of the more prominent 
points of his analysis, and must content ourselves 
with commending this chapter to the most careful 
study of the interested student. 

By the action of the previous Administration, 
one hundred and eighty-three companies of the 
line of the regular army had been sent to the ex- 
treme frontier ; and, of the fifteen remaining, but 
five were available for garrisoning the nine perma- 
nent fortifications on the Southern Atlantic and 
Gulf coasts. The new Administration was thus 
effectually prevented from using any portion of the 
regular forces of the United States even for the 
defense of the capital. Recourse was of necessity 
had to undisciplined militia; and the humiliating 
spectacle was presented of the first body of militia 



Military Policy of the United States. 439 

called into service from the District of Columbia 
exacting conditions of the Government, or of flatly 
refusing service ! Throughout the North, to so low a 
standard had the military art descended among the 
militia — a few regiments in the great cities alone 
excepted — that, although numbering over three 
million men, they possessed neither instruction nor 
a respectable organization. They could not be con- 
sidered in any sense a military force, and yet re- 
course must be had to them, and to them alone, in 
the exigencies then pressing. 

Both the Revolutionary War and that of 18 12 
had distinctly shown that any system of national 
defense based on the consent and co-operation of 
the States possessed no element of strength or mili- 
tary value. And yet the President was forced to 
depend on this system, and avail himself of its 
assistance, because of the paucity of the regular 
army, its scattered condition, and the pressing need 
of speedy action. 

The conduct of the Governors of the States in 
response to the call of the President was, as in 181 2, 
largely controlled by their own political sentiments 
and party affiliations. In the North, the response 
was prompt and decisive ; in the South, just the 
contrary ; and in the border States it was charac- 
terized by a refusal, or a temporizing policy. In six 
of these latter, which afterward furnished nearly a 
quarter of a million men for the Government, the 
Governors assumed the responsibility of declining 
to accede to the request of the President, without 
even giving the people the opportunity of express- 
ing their will. 



440 Emory Upton. 

The rebellion, spreading rapidly, soon covered 
a territory over three quarters of a million square 
miles in area, and involved over eight and a half 
millions of people. Both sections made ample 
preparations for war. On the part of the Govern- 
ment, a call for seventy-five thousand militia for 
three months was made ; the South more wisely 
issued a proclamation for one hundred thousand 
volunteers for twelve months' service, and thus 
both repeated the blunder of short enlistments, but 
in different degrees. 

Controlled by circumstances, the President was 
forced to assume dictatorial powers, and to usurp 
the functions of Congress in decreeing an increase 
of the regular army and navy, and in making a call 
for volunteers. He was impelled to this step as a 
measure of absolute necessity, inasmuch as Con- 
gress had neglected to provide for any system of 
national defense ; and, although the new Congress 
promptly legalized his action, it is well to call at- 
tention to the historical fact that the President 
raised armies, provided a navy, and opened the 
doors of the Treasury to irresponsible citizens. 
This immense stride toward despotic power was 
attended with no serious danger to the liberties of 
the country, simply because of the personal charac- 
ter and patriotic devotion of the President, and the 
active spirit of liberty existing among the people 
whom he served. 

Another anomaly in our history is also to be 
noticed in this crisis. The growth of business at 
the War Department increased with such rapidity 
that the Secretary was obhged to turn over to the 



Military Policy of the United States. 441 

Secretary of the Treasury, as a pressing necessity, 
the organization of the forces called into service. 
Many of the details of this organization were dis- 
cussed and recommended by an irresponsible board 
of three army officers, but the final decision was 
made by the Secretary of the Treasury. The au- 
thor shows that the recommendations of this board, 
based on professional knowledge, had they been 
adopted, would have been of the greatest value 
and importance. But, unfortunately, those relating 
to the organization of the volunteer regiments, to 
their forming a part of the regular army of the 
United States, and to the methods of commission- 
ing their officers, were not favorably considered, 
and the Government was committed by the action 
of a Cabinet officer other than the War Secretary 
to the mistaken and vicious policy of State troops 
in a war for national existence. 

Other errors, which to the unprofessional mind 
might appear trivial, but which, once committed, 
were attended with disastrous results, are also noted 
and receive comment. Among these are the failure 
on the part of the Government to appreciate the 
value of the professional skill and training within its 
control, and to make use of them to the best advan- 
tage ; its unwise action in regard to the tendered 
resignations of regular officers of Southern birth 
and affiliations, and, by readily accepting such resig- 
nations as were offered, contributing to the military 
strength of the rebellion ; the retention of the regu- 
lar army as a separate organized force, which, though 
insignificant in point of numbers, contained over 
six hundred well-instructed captains and subalterns 



442 Emory Upton. 

who could have been much more profitably employed 
in the great army of volunteers, in commands of 
higher importance ; and, finally, in discouraging 
those regular officers who desired a field of wider 
usefulness from taking volunteer commissions. 

The battle of Bull Run exhibits the folly of re- 
lying on an army composed of troops engaged for 
short enlistments, and was but a repetition of what 
had so often occurred in the War of 1812, but whose 
lessons seemed not to have been learned by those 
responsible for its happening. That the battle was 
brought about by the combination of many causes — 
such as the intemperate zeal of the press and loyal 
citizens in urging a speedy advance ; the belief that 
the army would exhibit, in the aggregate, the same 
courage and bravery which existed in the patriotic 
citizen ; that it possessed sufficient discipline and 
military instruction to overcome its adversary ; and 
the weakness of the Government in risking at this 
time so much by yielding to popular clamor — is 
clearly shown in General Upton's analysis. The 
anxiety to profit by the service of those regiments 
whose time was about expiring brought about its 
share of the disaster, not only in Patterson's com- 
mand, but also in the main army, where it is shown 
that at least one regiment, insisting on its right to 
discharge, marched from the field to the sound of 
the enemy's guns ! The panic which followed the 
battle is shown to be the direct result of lack of 
discipline, want of confidence in commanders, and 
is strongly contrasted with the firmness displayed 
by the battalion of regular troops, under Sykes, 
which covered the retreat. 



Military Policy of the United States. 443 

The other military operations of this year, which, 
in the excited state of pubHc feeling, were then re- 
garded as national disasters, added their depressing 
influence, and are shown to be, in the light of future 
estimation, minor skirmishes, important only in edu- 
cating our troops in the expensive school of war. 

The situation at the close of this first year of the 
war was such as to give us a most vigorous and 
abundant military legislation. Congress, in attempt- 
ing to repair the mistakes previously committed, 
was prodigal in voting men and money for the vig- 
orous prosecution of the war. It, however, was the 
victim of the fatal delusion that this generous dis- 
position of our means and resources removed from 
its shoulders all other responsibility. It regarded 
the responsibility as being shifted to the shoulders 
of its generals, forgetting that armies require time 
for their evolution, drill and discipline for their effi- 
ciency, and can not be created by the mere stroke 
of the pen. The analysis of the military legislation 
of this epoch is most important, as our author points 
out the delusions which then characterized the mili- 
tary measures that engaged the attention of Con- 
gress. Rejecting in 1861 the principle of obligatory 
military service of its citizens, which had been de- 
clared in 1792, and still alarmed at the prospect of 
a regular army. Congress violated the practice of 
every civilized nation by calling out a vast number 
of untrained men without providing the necessary 
means to form them into disciplined troops, except 
by the most expensive and wasteful of all measures. 
It provided no regimental depots, and made no pro- 
vision for keeping the regiments full, either by 



444 Emory Upton. 

voluntary enlistment or by the draft. It made no 
provision for officers of capacity or education, but 
intrusted the lives of its citizens and the conduct of 
affairs to ignorant and, in many cases, incompetent 
leaders. It gave, to those who proved themselves 
deserving, no hope of reward save through the Gov- 
ernors of the States. It permitted company officers 
to be elected by the men, and field officers by the 
company officers, to the certain destruction of dis- 
cipline, and to the encouragement of the worst kind 
of intriguing. Until volunteering gave place to the 
draft, the troops were enrolled, subsisted, clothed, 
supplied, armed, equipped, and transported by State 
agents, and the Government paid the bills. It was 
forced to convene boards to examine into the quali- 
fications of officers commissioned by State Govern- 
ors, and to peremptorily dismiss large numbers of 
worthless officers from the service. According to 
our author, it is scarcely possible to contrive or to 
imagine a more vicious military policy than that 
with which we began the war and retained for a 
considerable time, and he shows that the responsi- 
bility rests upon our so-called statesmen, to whom 
the experience of history conveys no lessons worth 
the learning. 

The campaigns of the war during the year 1862, 
as delineated by writers, present to the general reader 
an intricacy and confusion which are in striking con- 
trast to the clear exposition made by General Upton. 
He divides ,the year into three periods, the first 
characterized by offensive operations on the part of 
the Union forces, the second by defensive, and the 
third by offensive operations again. He separates 



Military Policy of the United States. 445 

the territory covered by the operations of war into 
three departments, the Eastern, Middle, and West- 
ern. He gives from official sources the data con- 
cerning the positions, strength, and movements of 
the contending forces, and the results of the opera- 
tions belonging to each period. He closes each his- 
torical sketch with a critical analysis of the causes 
which determined our success or defeat. With an 
assertion well established that the advantage was 
greatly in favor of the Union forces at the begin- 
ning of the first period, he shows that at the end 
it had wholly passed over to the Confederates, al- 
though the period was marked by a succession of 
Union victories. He accounts for this change by 
reason of two facts : first, the great extent of front 
covered by our armies ; and, second, that these 
armies were under the command of eight distinct 
officers, having no common head save the President 
of the United States. 

During the second period the Government and 
the Confederacy conducted the war on contrary 
principles. The former fought as a confederacy, 
and the latter as a nation. To establish this state- 
ment General Upton contrasts the military policy 
of both antagonists. Thus, while the Government 
recognized the individuality of the States, appealed 
to them for troops, adhered to the principle of vol- 
untary enlistments, gave the State Governors power 
to appoint commissioned officers, and encouraged 
them to organize new regiments, the Confederacy, 
on the other hand, repudiated State sovereignty, ap- 
pealed directly to the people, ignored the Govern- 
ors, took away their power to appoint officers, 



44^ Emory Upton. 

vested it in their President, refused to organize 
new regiments, abandoned voluntary enlistments, 
adopted the principle of obligatory military service, 
and called into the army every white citizen be- 
tween the ages of eighteen and thirty-five. The 
effect was to greatly augment their strength, and, as 
the new troops were at once poured into the old 
organizations, three months only of instruction and 
discipline were sufficient to make them but little 
less efficient than veteran troops. 

This period was one of marked disaster, and was 
followed by nearly as great a public depression as 
that of the first Bull Run. The third period found 
the contending forces, at its termination, in very 
nearly the same relative positions as those at the 
beginning of the year. 

In reviewing the campaign of 1862, he inquires 
into the reasons why, with the marked and un- 
doubted advantage of troops and resources, success 
did not attend our arms, and in answer he an- 
nounces as the sufficient reason the unfortunate di- 
vision of our forces into many separate and inde- 
pendent commands. He then endeavors to fix the 
responsibility. Differing in opinion with writers, 
who have blamed either the President or the gen- 
eral-in-chief, he shows that all our troubles have 
originated in a vicious military policy whose de- 
fective laws have tempted the President and the 
Secretary of War to assume the character and re- 
sponsibilities of military commanders — responsibili- 
ties for which they were fitted neither by training 
nor education to undertake. The great War Secre- 
tary, Stanton, a man of imperious will, became the 



Military Policy of the United States. 447 

supreme and controlling spirit in every military 
movement, and in the conduct of military affairs, 
and to his interference all our military disasters of 
that year may be traced. 

Possibly no campaign of modern times has ever 
been subjected to such controversial discussion as 
the Peninsular campaign of 1862. Before General 
Upton began its critical study he accepted and be- 
lieved what is unquestionably the more general and 
popular view. But, upon completing his analysis 
under this aspect, he recognized that it was neither 
historically nor philosophically correct, and, loyal to 
justice and truth, he destroyed his manuscript and 
again undertook its careful study. 

In his final criticism he displays a master's 
hand. No hesitation or doubt marks the conclu- 
sions which he claims are the logical results of 
sound reason based on superabundant historical 
evidence. Stanton's accession to office and power 
was at once followed by the strongest evidence 
of his vigorous personality. The President's first 
war order was issued on the 27th of January, upon 
the suggestion of the Secretary of War. It or- 
dered an advance of the Army of the Potomac 
on the 22d of February, and thus began what Gen- 
eral Upton aptly designates as " War Department 
strategy," and which was destined to dissipate our 
resources and cover our arms with disaster. Other 
war orders followed ; adverse influences began to 
undermine the confidence of the President in the 
general-in-chief until, on March nth, war order 
number three relieved this officer from the con- 
trol of the armed forces as a whole, and transferred 



448 Emory Upton. 

his functions to the hands of the energetic Secre- 
tary of War. 

By thus assuming the direction of mihtary affairs 
both the Secretary and the President became from 
this moment as much responsible for whatever of 
disaster might befall the army as if they had actually 
taken command in person in the field. No sooner 
had the commander of the Army of the Potomac 
sailed for Fortress Monroe than the disintegration 
of the forces which he had relied upon for his pur- 
pose, and which had been promised him, began to 
take place. 

To establish the soundness of the position which 
General Upton so sturdily holds, he devotes six 
chapters to the campaigns of this year. In the first 
he describes the operations of the various theatres 
of war in general, so that a comprehensive view of 
the whole is presented to the reader. Then, be- 
cause of its greater importance, he devotes the 
remaining chapters to the Army of the Potomac. 
These chapters are entitled " A Review of the Cam- 
paign of the Army of the Potomac from the ist of 
April till the Close of the First Period of 1862"; 
"From its Arrival at Harrison's Landing till its 
Withdrawal from the Peninsula"; "The Second 
Battle of Bull Run " ; " Conflict between the Secre- 
tary of War and General McClellan till the Resto- 
ration of General McClellan to Command " ; and, 
finally, " From the Restoration till the Final Re- 
moval of General McClellan." 

These chapters are full of interest, and the temp- 
tation has been great to give a brief synopsis of 
some of their startling and vivid military criticisms, 



Military Policy of the United States. 449 

but no condensation is possible, for so unique is the 
method of discussion adopted by our author that, 
unconsciously, quotation follows quotation until one 
is forced to give all, or, choosing the other alterna- 
tive, omit all. We must therefore content ourselves 
with directing the attention of the military student 
to this rich harvest of professional knowledge and 
instruction. 

Suffice it to say that nothing less than a critical 
study will satisfy those who desire to obtain a com- 
prehensive view of our military system, to learn its 
defects and become educated to its requirements. 
In the whole of his work General Upton does not 
display the least partisanship. He has strong con- 
victions, founded on a thorough acquaintance with 
the details and practice of his profession, an inti- 
mate historical knowledge of the events which he 
describes, and has at his command the undoubted, 
well-established facts to sustain the views which he 
advocates. His object has not been to brighten 
tarnished military reputations, nor to glorify promi- 
nent personages of our history, but rather to mark 
clearly on our military chart the sunken rocks and 
hidden reefs that have in the past so nearly wrecked 
us, that these may be avoided in our progress to- 
ward our hoped-for happy destiny. 

While engaged in the preparation of his great 
work, General Upton appreciated the value of hon- 
est criticism on the part of eminent civilians and 
military men. Among others he asked General 
Garfield, then occupying a most prominent political 
station, to examine his work. The following letters 
in response show that this man, eminent in both 



450 Emory Upton. 

military and political pursuits, had a high apprecia- 
tion of its character : 

Mentor, Lake County, Ohio, Jtme 28, 1878. 

Dear General : Your manuscript was sent to 
me just as I was leaving Washington, and I have 
been so much engaged since then that I have not 
been able to read it until to-day. I am delighted 
with the chapters, and feel confident that they will 
be of great service to Congress and the country. 

The wastefulness and danger which have at- 
tended our methods of providing for the necessities 
of war are set forth with great force by the naked 
recital of the policy adopted during the War of In- 
dependence, and I have no doubt the Wars of 1812 
and 1 861 will make the exhibit still more striking. 

Permit me to offer a few suggestions : 

1. A separate discussion of the origin of our 
traditional prejudice against a standing army, show- 
ing that there was ground for such a feeling in 
European states but not here, would be valuable. 

2. It would make your work more valuable if 
you would give references at the foot of your pages 
to the sources of your authority for the numerous 
quotations. 

3. Your dates would be better understood if you 
printed at the top of each page the 3'ear to which 
they belong. 

4. When you come to our late war I hope you 
will discuss fully the evils and iniquity of the bounty 
system. It would have been a great saving if we 
had refused to adopt it at all. 

I hope you will bring your book out, if possible, 



Military Policy of the United States. 451 

before the next meeting of Congress. Expressing 
again my deep interest in the chapters I have read, 
I am, very truly yours, 

J. A. Garfield. 

Mentor, Ohio, Jtdy 22, 1878. 

General Emory Upton. 

Dear Sir : Your letter of the 5th instant came 
duly to hand. I was absent from home at the time, 
and have not been able to reply sooner. Your 
chapters, three to seven inclusive, are so full of in- 
terest that it was difficult to read them with any 
view to criticism. I was more than ever astonished 
that our fathers were able to succeed in the War of 
the Revolution with the prejudices that existed 
against a regular army, the want of system, and the 
great distress that prevailed at that time. I hope 
you will not soften the history of the horrible man- 
agement of the War of 1 812. I see nothing in these 
chapters that should offend any just political senti- 
ment. I think the country will just now bear a 
good deal of plain talk on the whole subject, in view 
of the dangers of communism. Your plan for a 
national army, modeled somewhat on the German 
plan of a regular active force, Landwehr and Land- 
sturm, is excellent, and I hope you will work it out 
so fully in its details that we can embody it in a bill 
to be introduced into Congress. I am satisfied we 
shall never be able to organize an effective national 
militia on the old plan. I send your manuscript to 
Batavia, in accordance with your request. 

With kindest regards, yours very truly, 

J. A. Garfield. 



452 Emory Upton. 

Portland, Maine, September 3, 1878. 

Dear General : I brought your manuscript of 
the military policy of the United States from the 
Revolution till 18 12 with me to Maine, and have 
read it carefully and with great interest. I have 
suggested a few things on the margin, and would 
make only the further suggestion : it would add 
great force to your exhibit if you could find and 
quote a few crisp passages from the messages of 
Presidents, the reports of Secretaries of War, and 
from the debates in Congress, setting forth the evils 
of army organization complained of in your chapter 
from the Revolution to 18 12. I am sure you wiU 
have no difficulty in finding them. The chapter is 
an admirable one, and greatly adds to the value 
of your book. I send the manuscript by express to 
Fortress Monroe. 

Very truly yours, 

J. A. Garfield. 

Mentor, Ohio, November 12, 1878. 

Dear General : I owe you an apology for so 
long neglecting to answer your letters, and for so 
long detaining your last manuscript chapters. But 
I was very busily engaged in the political campaign, 
and could only find time between meetings to read 
the very interesting pages you sent me. I made a 
few marginal suggestions and returned the manu- 
script to you last week. I am surprised that your 
publisher was not willing to assume the responsi- 
bility of publishing, for I can not doubt the work 
will be widely read. I hope we shall see it in print 



Military Policy of the United States. 453 

soon. The work increases in value as it approaches 
our own times ; and if it is brought down to the 
present time it can not fail to do much good. 

With thanks for your kind congratulations on 
my election, I am, very truly yours, 

J. A. Garfield. 



CHAPTER XII. 

PROFESSIONAL VIEWS ON MILITARY LEGISLATION, 
AND FINAL REVISION OF TACTICS. 

Many measures relating to the reorganization 
of the regular army were introduced into Congress 
during this period of Upton's intellectual activity. 
Several of these embodied important provisions 
that were radical in their nature, and therefore at- 
tracted unusual attention on the part of military 
officers and legislators. The most prominent meas- 
ure, known as the " Burnside Bill," the result of a 
long and painstaking study by a joint committee of 
both Houses of Congress, was reported to the Sen- 
ate on the 1 2th of December, 1878. Its provisions 
were immediately subjected to rigid scrutiny, and, 
as a sequence, the most violent opposition or strong- 
est support was manifested by army officers, deter- 
mined by their particular official position, training, 
or professional judgment. 

The result of General Upton's study and experi- 
ence was to place him among the advocates of the 
bill, and from the first he became one of its strong- 
est advocates. If the conclusions which he reached 
in his study of the proper military policy of the 
country be accepted as sound and unanswerable, it 
is undeniable that some such reorganization as that 
provided by this bill is an inevitable consequence. 



Views on Military Legislation. 455 

Believing this, he earnestly and ardently, in conver- 
sation and by letter, advocated its passage. On the 
19th of January, 1879, he writes: 

Should the latest army bill become a law, it will 
promote me immediately, and possibly send me to 
California. While wholly ready to follow the lead- 
ings of Providence, such a change would not appear 
favorable to my occupations at present. Still, if the 
new book should awaken a storm of abuse, I might 
find some recess in the Yosemite a very acceptable 
hiding-place. . . . Extracts from two of my private 
letters have been published, so I have, in a small 
way, come in for abuse ; but it does not worry me. 
Truth and honesty are on the side of the line, and 
the country will yet see the general of the army, 
under the President, in the full exercise of the au- 
thority belonging to his position. The " Military 
Policy " will not only show the evil wrought to the 
service by the usurpations of the Secretary of War, 
but Southern members of Congress will find that a 
similar evil helped to overthrow their cause, A 
double proof ought to convince honest men that a 
change should be made. 

Not only does he make frequent mention in his 
private letters of his interest in these questions, but 
he often took occasion to express his opinions in 
communications for the public journals. He had 
by this time, grown to such a stature in the estima- 
tion of military men, that whatever came from his 
pen merited and received weighty attention. He 
could always command a hearing, although he was 



456 Emory Upton. 

not always accorded a respectful answer to his ar- 
guments. 

Among other questions affecting the well-being 
of the army, that known as ** compulsory retirement 
of officers at the age of sixty-two " occupied his 
earnest attention and received his unqualified sup- 
port. His advocacy of this principle was so vigor- 
ous that the strongest efforts of the opposition were 
directed against him. He was even attacked on the 
ground of personal interest, since his rank was such 
that, were the compulsory retirement at the age of 
sixty-two adopted, he would at once get his regi- 
ment, or at least be considerably advanced in his 
own grade. These insinuations, however, were 
without vitality, since Upton's purity of motives 
was so well established throughout the army that 
the only injury done him by their promulgation was 
that of wounding his own sensitive spirit. To one 
less in love with his profession, and to one who 
cared more for public opinion than for the public 
service and the principles of justice and truth, the 
possibilities of these unjust insinuations might have 
deterred him from entering so actively into the dis- 
cussion. But belief with Upton meant action, and, 
disregarding all selfish reasons, he did what he 
thought would best advance the interests of the 
military service. He, therefore, having compiled 
many data bearing on this question, wrote an article 
entitled " Compulsory Retirement," which was pub- 
lished in the " United Service Magazine " in March, 
1880. 

In this article he shows from historical records 
that the great commanders who achieved celebrated 



Views 071 Military Legislation. 457 

victories were young in years, and of necessity then 
in possession of their best mental and bodily activ- 
ity. He points out from our own history that, be- 
cause of our superannuated officers, " absenteeism " 
had largely existed in the army during war, and 
must continue to exist ; that, in most of our wars 
previous to the rebeUion, the older officers being 
generally absent from their commands, the regi- 
ments were led into battle by the junior field-officers, 
captains, and, in some instances, by lieutenants. He 
uses the records of the rebellion on both sides to 
prove that success is more certain with the physi- 
cally active, and by the quick decision of young 
manhood, than with the slow caution which almost 
invariably accompanies the aged veteran. After 
giving numerous statistics to illustrate his argument, 
he concludes : 

After considering the facts from ancient and 
modern history, as well as those within our own ex- 
perience, should Congress still be tempted to base 
its legislation upon false deductions from the Ger- 
man system, it may find additional cause for reflec- 
tion in the history of the Ute war now in progress. 
How many officers, with the irresolution of advanc- 
ing years, would, like Dodge, have galloped into 
the darkness intent upon saving Thornburgh's com- 
mand ? When the news came that Thornburgh was 
killed ; that Payne, Cherry, and their gallant com- 
rades were fighting for life ; when the country in 
suspense awaited tidings of another massacre like 
the one on the Little Big Horn, how many colonels 
of cavalry, sixty-five years of age, would, like Mer- 
20 



45 S Emory Upton. 

ritt, have attempted or dreamed it possible to march 
one hundred and sixty-five miles in two days ? 

As an example of his loyalty to what he believed 
to be the truth, even when he had long entertained 
contrary convictions, it may be well to preserve the 
following correspondence relating to the celebrated 
case of Fitz-John Porter, and which explains itself : 

Fort Monroe, Va., December 8, 1879. 

My dear General: When, in 1862, General 
McClellan, after being relieved from command, rode 
the lines of his army, neither my regiment nor my- 
self joined in the demonstrations of affection and 
applause which nearly everywhere greeted his ap- 
pearance. 

The son of an abolitionist, an abolitionist myself, 
both as a cadet and an officer, my sympathies were 
strongly on the side of the Administration in its 
effort to abolish slavery, and I could not, therefore, 
even indirectly participate in an ovation which 
might be construed as a censure on either the civil 
or military policy of the Government. With these 
views you will naturally infer that I have always 
been anti-McClellan, anti-Fitz-John Porter, and such 
is the fact. 

Up to a few months ago, when I began our mili- 
tary policy during the rebellion, I believed that 
these officers, differing in pohtics from the Admin- 
istration, had not done their whole duty to the 
country. But, in the process of this investigation, 
I have been compelled to change my mind. Like 
many miUions of our people, my opinions were 



Views on Military Legislation. 459 

vague and shadowy; they had no foundation in 
fact. 

You will remember that from the i ith of March 
till the nth of July, 1862, we had no general-in- 
chief. Our armies, numbering more than six hun- 
dred thousand men, were commanded by the Presi- 
dent and the Secretary of War. Could I lay before 
you all the facts that have come under my obser- 
vation, I believe you would be convinced that the 
causes of a four instead of a one year's war can all 
be traced to this brief but disastrous period. 

It was during this time that the troops east of 
the Alleghanies were divided up into six independ- 
ent commands. It was during the same period 
that the great army concentrated at Corinth, and 
which might have made a summer excursion to 
Vicksburg and Jackson, was dispersed from Mem- 
phis to Cumberland Gap, a distance of nearly three 
hundred miles. In both cases the result was the 
same. The Army of the Potomac was rolled back 
to the Potomac ; the Army of the Ohio was called 
back to the Ohio. It may be added, as a further 
coincidence, that the commanders of the two armies, 
against whose protests the division of our forces 
was made, were relieved from their commands. 

This was all that was done in the West ; but in 
the East the reputation of another officer was 
bhghted. The movements of Jackson in the cam- 
paign of the second Bull Run presented an oppor- 
tunity to destroy Lee's army which was lost, as was 
alleged by General Pope, through the willful disobe- 
dience of General Porter. On this charge the lat- 
ter was tried, and not being able to present evi- 



460 Emory Upton. 

dence conclusive of his innocence he was convicted 
and sentenced to be cashiered. 

His case will soon come before Congress and 
the whole country is now on the qui vive to know 
what course you will pursue. 

You were a member of the original court by 
which he was tried. Then you were known only 
as a soldier, now you are recognized as a statesman. 
The memory of the immortal Lincoln pleads for no 
stigma to rest upon any officer or soldier who ever 
in battle risked his life for the Union. 

Who, if he had the power, would not expunge 
from our history the crime of Benedict Arnold ? 
Yet for sixteen years, until he has grown gray, the 
hero of Gaines's Mill, who for nearly a whole day 
fought thirty thousand against seventy thousand, 
whose skill was again acknowledged in the victory 
of Malvern Hill, has by the press and the people 
been unjustly denounced as a traitor. 

Humanity recoils from the crime of the British 
Cabinet which shot Admiral Byng. In our own 
history the case of Fitz-John Porter is analogous. 
Public opinion is already setting strongly in his 
favor. No officer, who has read the recent report 
of the Board of Army Officers, now believes that 
the opportunity to destroy Jackson was lost on the 
29th of August. If not, he was innocent. If you 
will read the official dispatches of General Pope to 
General McDowell on the 27th of August, directing 
that, on the morning of the 28th, he should march 
with his two corps of twenty-five thousand men from 
Gainesville to Manassas, his right on the Manas- 
sas Gap Railroad, his left thrown well to the east, 



Views on Military Legislation. 461 

and then read McDowell's, Sigel's, and Reynolds's 
reports, showing that, in disregard of General 
Pope's explicit orders, all of these commands moved 
to Manassas on the south instead of the north side 
of the railroad, you will recognize at a glance that 
the opportunity to destroy Jackson was lost on the 
28th. 

On the morning of the 28th but one of Jackson's 
divisions was at Groveton. The other two were 
east of Bull Run. 

Sigel, at Gainesville, three and a half miles west 
of Groveton, was ordered to march at the " earliest 
blush " of dawn. He did not make an effort to 
move till after 7.30. 

Look at the maps accompanying the recent pro- 
ceedings, and you will see that had Sigel, Reynolds, 
and King marched in tfcJiclon of columns north of 
the railroad, as explained in Reynolds's report (" Re- 
port of Military Operations during the Rebellion," 
page 276), the left division would have marched 
through Groveton before turning off the main pike 
to go to Manassas. The few shots fired by the 
enemy the moment Reynolds moved east of Gaines- 
ville would have been the prelude to a battle with 
Taliaferro's division at Groveton, which, being de- 
feated by 9 A. M., would have left Ewell and Hill 
to be destroyed successively in the same manner. 
This done, the whole army could have faced about 
and caught Longstreet half-way through Thor- 
oughfare Gap, and, destroying him, could have 
ended the rebellion. 

Instead of this, the whole of McDowell's twenty- 
five thousand men, which faced eastward in the 



462 Emory Upton. 

morning, circled around Groveton on a radius of 
about two miles, and, having failed to discover the 
enemy till late in the day, jfinally, toward evening, 
took position facing west three miles east of Grove- 
ton. By this unfortunate movement, being on the 
left of the army on the morning of the 28th, Sigel 
and Reynolds found themselves on the right on the 
morning of the 29th. The other half of McDowell's 
command, Ricketts and King, were retreating on 
Bristow and Manassas. But the enemy was no 
longer divided. Longstreet testifies that he was in 
line of battle on the right of Jackson by 10.30 or 11 
A. M., which was an hour earlier than when Porter 
arrived on what had now become the Union left. 

These facts to me appear conclusive, and my de- 
sire that you should not make a mistake is my ex- 
cuse for presenting them to you. Had General 
Pope alleged that his defeat was due to disobe- 
dience of his orders on the 28th, his name in history 
would have been placed among skillful commanders 
who at least deserved success, but in locating the 
loss of the battle a day too late, on the 29th, he now 
labors under the imputation of not having under- 
stood his own plans. 

I have had no communication with General Por- 
ter, but have written you of my own motion. 

Always a Republican, I desire simply to see jus- 
tice done. The great party has saved the Union, 
and can well afford to restore to honor a man who 
has fought so gallantly for his country. 

It is true, as the Board remarks, that he was 
harsh and unkind in his criticisms of his commander ; 
but having read the history of the Revolution you 



Views on Military Legislation. 463 

are aware that the officers and men of the Conti- 
nental army could be for nearly seven years on the 
verge of mutiny, always denouncing Congress, yet 
always presenting a bold front to the enemy. 

The case of Fitz-John Porter is already historic, 
and when the time comes your speech will also pass 
into history. 

I do not think I overestimate your influence 
when I say that your position will be the position 
of the Republican party. God grant that )'0u may 
dare to do right ! 

With kindest regards, sincerely your friend, 

E. Upton. 

P. S. — You will find an exact parallel to McDow- 
ell's circling around Groveton in Jomini's " Napo- 
leon," Eckmiihl campaign, 1809. 

Davoust was at Ratisbon, west of the Danube, 
with orders to join Napoleon at Abensberg. His 
artillery and trains were ordered to take the river- 
road ; two columns, of two divisions each, were or- 
dered to take two parallel dirt-roads on the left. 

The Archduke Charles, between Napoleon and 
Ratisbon, moved upon Davoust, intending to de- 
stroy him ; but his left column, instead of taking 
the river-road, encountered Davoust's left column 
marching in opposite directions. As a consequence, 
the two armies (Davoust had fifty thousand) turned 
on a pivot, and, at the close of the da}^ had exactly 
reversed their positions : Davoust faced toward 
Ratisbon, the archduke faced toward Abensberg. 
Napoleon, having thus united his army, gained the 
victory at Eckmiihl. 



4^4 Emory Upton. 

To this letter General Garfield made the follow- 
ing reply : 

House of Representatives, 
Washington, D. C, December lo, 1879. 

My dear General: Yours of the 8th instant 
came duly to hand, and has been thoughtfully and 
carefully read. I have not yet read a page of the 
commission on General Fitz-John Porter's case, but 
of course I shall read it with the utmost care as 
soon as I can find the time. I hope there is nothing 
in my nature that will prevent me from seeing the 
truth and acting upon it, even if it should lead me 
to reverse all my former opinions and actions on 
the subject ; but I say to you frankly that it will re- 
quire new and striking evidence to unsettle the con- 
elusions of my mind in reference to that case. The 
court that tried Fitz-John Porter commenced their 
labors, as I know, with strong prepossession in his 
favor, and the developments of the trial Avere pain- 
ful surprises to the court, several of whose members 
had been intimate personal friends of Porter. There 
was not in my heart, nor could I discover it in the 
conduct of other members, anything to indicate 
passion or poHtical bias in the course of the trial ; 
but, notwithstanding all this, we may have erred in 
our findings, and have mistaken the facts. Still, I 
am bound to say that a trial with witnesses fresh 
from the scenes concerning which they testified was 
far more likely to get at the actual facts than a com- 
mission taking the testimony of witnesses who spoke 
from memory seventeen years old. But, as I said 
before, I do not prejudge the case in its new aspects, 
I only give you my preliminary views. 



Views on Military Legislation. 465 

I shall be glad to receive from you at any time 
any other points you may have bearing on the sub- 
ject. Very truly yours, 

J. A. Garfield. 
General E. Upton, 

Fort MonroCy Va. 

Thus, during his tour at Fortress Monroe, was 
Upton's mind engaged in varied intellectual work. 
It may be called the literary and professional epoch 
of his life. His reputation as an intellectual soldier, 
in contradistinction to that of a fighting one, will 
be measured by the productions of his pen during 
this time. The public has yet to formulate its 
opinion of him in this respect, as the data by which 
its estimate can alone be made have not yet been 
presented for criticism. But his friends believe 
that, high as was his reputation in active service, on 
the march, in camp, in the care and discipline of his 
men, in the excitement of battle, in the quick per- 
ception of the varying possibilities which were sug- 
gested on the field of action, his fame will at least 
be equaled if not surpassed by this other aspect of 
his professional career, and they are willing to leave 
the decision to that most impartial of all judges, 
public opinion. 

There are but few matters of minor interest to 
notice before we turn our attention to the sad events 
of Upton's last days of service. 

These matters of absorbing and exacting inter- 
est, which occupied almost all of his leisure, did not 
cause him to neglect those other duties which are 
ever characteristic of the gentleman and Christian 



4^^ Emory Upton. 

soldier. He was punctilious in the discharge of his 
social obligations. His house, presided over by his 
sister Sara, was constantly filled with guests. Ac- 
quaintances, friends, and relatives, in an incessant 
stream, were the recipients of his hospitality. He 
was entirely free from ostentatious display, and 
yet his entertainments were generous and complete. 
With respect to the private soldiers under his com- 
mand, it need only be said that he regarded them as 
men having the same feelings, attributes, and affec- 
tions which he himself possessed. Exacting the 
strictest discipline, he tempered it with kindness 
and consideration. He established a Sunday serv- 
ice for them, got officers and their wives to unite 
with him in giving them religious instruction, helped 
them to correct thinking and right living, and set 
them the best example of soldierly conduct. And 
when he was established at the Presidio at San 
Francisco, even against the advice and in opposition 
to the belief of many that anything could be done 
to ameliorate the condition of private soldiers, he 
spared no expense in the establishment of a place 
of resort as an offset to the attractions of drinking- 
saloons, which had done so much to effect their de- 
moralization. Sustained by a strong faith in the 
higher qualities of his men, he achieved a noble 
success, and to this day his work stands as a monu- 
ment of their moral and intellectual growth, and of 
Upton's interest in and devotion to their material 
and moral necessities. 

He soon felt the need of revising the tactics. 
The constant improvements in the accuracy and 
range of fire-arms forced upon him the conviction 



Final Revision of Tactics. 467 

that some modification in the formation of troops 
for attack and defense was imperative. Being alive 
to these changes and to their influence in the direc- 
tion of a more open order, he directed his attention 
to the best means of meeting them. He describes 
in the following letter the successful result of a visit 
to the headquarters of the army at Washington in 
pursuance of his object : 

Fort Monroe, February 22, 1879. 

. . . The business part of my visit was to ap- 
proach General Sherman on the subject of revising 
the tactics. It so happened that by opposite doors 
General Ewing (his brother-in-law) and myself en- 
tered his office at the same instant. The latter, as 
soon as we were presented, said, " I never witnessed 
your skirmish-drill till a day or two ago, and I want 
to tell you it is the prettiest thing I ever saw." 
General Schofield, already in the room, chimed in: 
" Did you read the account of a recent lecture de- 
livered in London before the United Service Insti- 
tution ? The lecturer presented what he called the 
best formation for skirmishing, when Sir Garnet 
Wolseley stated that the proposed method was the 
same as the American system." General Sherman 
then spoke up, " Yes, that was your invention," and, 
too modest to reply, I submitted to the impeach- 
ment. The way being open, I told him that I 
wanted to perfect the system, when he said, " You 
revise it, bring it to me, and I will get it approved." 
This is what I have been looking forward to for a 
long time. If I can get it out before the " Military 
Policy," I shall not care how hard the wind blows. 



4^^ Emory Upton. 

To the final chapters of his book and to this re- 
vision of his tactics Upton now devoted his best 
energies. When fatigued with one he turned to the 
other. But he was not destined to complete either ; 
both were left by him, however, in such a state as 
to need only the careful attention and editing which 
could be easily given by friendly hands. And it is 
pleasant to record that in each case such friends 
arose whose disinterested and unselfish labor has 
been as honorable and meritorious to themselves as 
it was creditable to Upton. 

His promotion to the colonelcy of the Fourth 
Regiment of Artillery followed in the due course of 
time, and he was thereupon relieved from duty at 
Fortress Monroe and ordered to the Presidio, Cali- 
fornia, where he assumed command of his regiment 
on the 23d of December, 1880. 

The revision of the tactics, upon which he was 
engaged at the time of his death, had been so far 
completed as to need but careful editing on the 
part of an officer familiar with the subject, and in 
complete accord with the advanced views of Gen- 
eral Upton. His papers were at first confided to 
General Alexander, who, however, because of se- 
vere illness, was compelled to forego the task, and 
they were finally placed in the hands of Lieutenant 
E. J. McClernand, an officer of the Second Cavalry. 
This officer had just completed a creditable tour of 
duty at the Military Academy as an instructor of 
tactics, when, on reporting for duty with his regi- 
ment. General Alexander recognized his essential 
qualifications for the task which his illness had pre- 
vented him from completing. Lieutenant McCler- 



Final Revision of Tactics. 469 

nand had made a thorough study of tactics while 
on duty at West Point, and, with a generosity that 
is commendable, undertook this labor. Upon its 
completion, McClernand applied to the War De- 
partment, asking that a board be appointed to con- 
sider the revised tactics, in substantially the follow- 
ing language : 

General Upton had been engaged in the revision 
of the tactics for infantry troops several years be- 
fore his death. He had brought not only the learn- 
ing and experience which he had gained in the 
preparation of his former edition, but also a vast 
amount of information acquired from a personal in- 
spection of the armies of Europe and Asia. It is a 
subject of congratulation that he did so far accom- 
plish his intentions as to make it possible for another 
to bring them to a successful completion ; indeed, all 
that he had left to be done consisted principally in 
the correction of details. 

I have made it my business to study many sys- 
tems of infantry tactics, American and European, 
and I believe those of General Upton will be pro- 
nounced by all military men to have few equals and 
no superiors. In accordance with the advice of 
Colonel Hasbrouck, the commandant of cadets, and 
instructor of tactics of the Military Academy, Miss 
Upton placed General Upton's manuscript in my 
possession, and requested me to complete it for 
presentation. Understanding that the War Depart- 
ment contemplated a revision of the infantry tactics, 
I conceived it proper to inform the adjutant-general 
of the existence of the completed manuscript em- 



470 Emory Upton. 

bodying a new system of tactics, and to request 
that the system be examined by a board of army 
officers. 

A few of the changes, which are, however, of 
great and far-reaching importance, are here men- 
tioned. The system is arranged for both a peace 
and a war footing organization. 

Organization of a Company of Infantry. — 
The company is to consist of : 

Peace. War. 

I captain. i captain. 

I first-lieutenant. 2 first-lieutenants. 

I second-lieutenant. 2 second-lieutenants. 

1 first-sergeant. i first-sergeant. 
4 sergeants. 8 sergeants. 

4 corporals. 16 corporals. 

2 musicians. 4 musicians. 
2 artificers. 2 artificers. 

50 privates. 1 50 to 1 80 privates. 

Total ... 3 commissioned, Total . . 5 commissioned, 

63 non-commissioned 181 to 211 non-commis- 

and privates. sioned and men. 

The habitual instruction of the company is in 
open or skirmishing order, and executing various 
movements in close order at the conclusion of each 
exercise. The company can be deployed as skir- 
mishers from column of fours, double column of 
fours, and column of platoons, and also from line. 
It can lie down in column of fours, and open and 
close files while in column of fours. From column 
of fours it can execute on the right or left into line 
and continue the march ; can form line to the right, 



Final Revision of Tactics. 471 

left, or front, from double column of fours (a new 
movement), continuing the movement or halt, as de- 
sired ; can form square against cavalry, form double 
column of fours, and finally execute several new 
movements when in column of platoons. 

Battalion Organization, — The battalion usu- 
ally consists of four companies, but may be either 
less or greater than four, but in the latter case is not 
to exceed six companies. The movements of the 
battalion comprise column at half distance ; a line 
of double columns (the companies being in double 
column of fours), and some admirable formations 
for street-fighting. Some of the more complicated 
movements in the old tactics are greatly simplified, 
or are entirely omitted. 

The normal order in the school of the battahon 
is the skirmishing. In this, two companies in the 
formation of skirmishers, with supports and reserves, 
constitute the fighting-line ; the other two compa- 
nies form the battalion reserve. When more than 
four companies form the battalion, the additional 
companies may be added to the fighting-line. 

The general principles of attack are next de- 
lineated. The troops are placed in the open or 
skirmishing order before they arrive within effective 
range. Supports and reserves are held close to the 
fighting-line, as the present range of fire-arms is so 
great that, in order to render efficient assistance, all 
these troops must be under fire, except where pro- 
tected by the inequalities of the ground. The 
method of using heavy lines of skirmishers and ad- 
vancing at a run from cover to cover is adopted 
throughout, the supports and reserves being used 



472 Emory Upton. 

at the critical moment, and by their impetus carry 
the fighting-line forward. 

In each position the skirmishers, singly or with 
their supports, seek to overwhelm the enemy by 
their fire, or tempt him to expend his ammunition. 
If he shows signs of weakness, they rush to the next 
cover and open fire as before. If unable to move 
forward on a line, they work forward man by man, 
those in front protecting the advance of those in 
rear by keeping down the enemy's fire. If the 
enemy gives way, he can be pursued by either the 
skirmishers or their supports, or by both combined ; 
the reserve may also be added for pursuit. If the 
skirmishers are driven back they rally on the sup- 
port, which will be in line, uncovering its front as 
quickly as possible, to enable it to open fire. These, 
in turn, if forced to retire, rally on the reserve. 

In these tactics, as the conditions now require, 
the first importance is given to skirmishing. 

Regimental Organization. — The regiment is 
supposed to consist of three battalions, but the rules 
prescribed are applicable to a less or greater num- 
ber. This school is quite similar to that of a bri- 
gade in the old tactics. The open order, having 
become a necessity because of the increased range, 
requires a greater distance apart of officers, and 
hence higher qualifications are demanded of them, 
and as a consequence more discretion is allowed 
subordinates. 

As an intermediate instruction for young sol- 
diers, between the squad drill and the school of the 
company, the school of the platoon is introduced, 
which is especially necessary on the war footing. 



Final Revision of Tactics. 473 

The object of the skirmishing in the school of the 
platoon is to teach men in detail the elementary 
principles of this order, the extended application of 
which is reserved for the school of the company and 
battalion. 

Upton has abandoned the deployment by fours 
and substituted a more direct, simple, and rapid 
method. This, in my opinion, is a radical and an 
admirable change. 

The platoon is habitually divided into two parts 
— the front rank constituting the skirmishers or 
fighting-line, and the rear rank the supports. The 
company on a war footing has a normal order of 
three lines or Echelons, while in peace it has but 
two. 

This review and professional opinion of Upton's 
latest labor on his tactics are most important in view 
of the report which was spread that his death was 
caused by his belief in his professional inability and 
consequent failure to overcome inherent difficulties 
in his tactics. That this report was wholly unwar- 
ranted the preceding pages clearly show, and we 
now seek the causes of his death in his own physi- 
cal and organic prostration. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

DEATH. 

When, on the morning of the 15th of March, 
1 88 1, the telegraph flashed across the continent the 
startling intelligence that General Emory Upton 
had taken his own life during the preceding night, 
doubt, incredulity, sorrow, and deep distress in 
rapid succession possessed his many friends. Of all 
the honorable officers of the army he was the very 
last of whom such a fate would have been pre- 
dicted, and yet it was true that his own hand had 
sent the bullet on its fatal mission. To even his 
most intimate associates this action was shrouded 
in the deepest mystery. He had hidden his great 
suffering, the sure precursor of his physical break- 
ing-down, from every one, and only at a time of 
greatest agony had he been unable to conceal it 
from two of his brother officers just a day or two 
before his death. 

The circumstances attending this death are so 
peculiar that we must pay careful attention to many 
matters which, considered alone, might be regarded 
as of but slight importance, but which in their en- 
tirety afford the only clew to the real cause of his 
distressful death. Let us then, in full justice to his 
memory, inquire into these circumstances. 



Death. 475 

Every man possesses a public and a private 
character which are not always in complete accord. 
When the unexpected happens, as in General Up- 
ton's case, the mind seeks a knowledge of those re- 
lations of life which are generally hidden from 
public view to satisfy the demands of a rational 
judgment, and to obtain a vera causa in complete 
accord with the act in question. Upton's life, in 
all of its minutest public, professional, and private 
details, offered not the slightest clew, to the ordi- 
nary observer, that could throw any light upon 
the true cause of his death. As an officer of the 
army he was the soul of honor ; through all grades, 
from the humblest subaltern to major-general, he 
had served his country well — in peace with the 
most faithful devotion, in war with the greatest 
gallantry. He was beloved by his troops, es- 
teemed by his associates, and honored by his 
country. Professionally, he devoted every energy 
and faculty to the study and practice of the mili- 
tary art ; he was a constant, painstaking student, 
and had become well versed in all the details of 
war. Seeking to ennoble his profession, he kept 
constantly in view the good of the service above 
self-advancement. Personally an humble, undoubt- 
ing Christian, a believer in a personal Saviour, 
he subordinated earthly aims to the heavenly, and 
ever looked to the higher life beyond the grave. If 
suicide be possible to such a man, then is no one 
secure from its terrible consequences. 

Suicide is defined to be " the act of designedly 
destroying one's own life, committed by a person of 
years of discretion and of sound mind." Upton had 



47^ -Emory Upton. 

reached the years of discretion ; he had taken his 
own hfe : and now we have to determine whether 
this was done designedly, and whether he possessed 
a sound mind on the night of the 14th of March, 
1881. 

This leads us to investigate his physical condi- 
tion for some years prior to this fatal day. 

To the casual observer, and even to his intimate 
personal friends, Upton for several years before his 
death appeared outwardly to be a splendidly de- 
veloped man, in the full possession of robust physi- 
cal health. He had in later years considerably in- 
creased his weight, his shoulders had broadened, and 
all his movements were characterized by his usual 
quick, nervous, and alert action. He gave every 
external promise of a long life. He had gained by 
merit alone a reputation and standing second to 
none in the army. He numbered among his per- 
sonal friends many true men of high station and of 
noble character. Not one of his intimates suspected 
that death by his own hand could ever be possible. 
Doubtless he himself was as little aware of his 
actual danger as it was possible for a man to be to 
whom no certain warning had come. The follow- 
ing letters express his serenity and actual hopes at 
this near approach of death : 

New York, August 27, 1879. 

My dear Mother: I am reminded that this 
is my fortieth birthday, and can not let it pass 
without expressing the gratitude that is in my 
heart for all the loving acts and sacrifices which you 
have bestowed upon me, who at best am but an un- 



Death. 



477 



worthy son. Father, too, I must include, with full 
forgiveness for the many times he took advantage 
of my weakness to chastise me for acts which to a 
juvenile mind appeared perfectly proper. To-day I 
become half of an octogenarian. Will the next forty 
years be as eventful as the last ? I hope not. As I 
look back to the day I last left home, I think of you 
as standing in the front door, father on the stoop, 
both enjoying the blessed peace which God gives 
to his loving children. Would that our heavenly 
Father might bless each of your children with a 
happiness as pure and serene as has been vouch- 
safed to their parents ! 

Fort Monroe, February i, 1880. 

To-day we enter upon the second month of the 
new year. ... It has been most beautiful. At the 
chapel after the morning service we had the com- 
munion. I did not forget the loved ones at the 
mercy-seat. What an inestimable privilege it is to 
know, to love, and trust a Saviour who so loved us 
as to give his life for us ! The Bible-class to-day 
numbered but four ; yet it was to me at least a prof- 
itable hour. The strong point I tried to bring out 
was that religion is to be enjoyed now. " Blessed 
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of 
heaven." This great gift is ours to enjoy now. 
" Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be 
comforted." What a precious promise this is ! God 
does not willingly afflict or grieve his children. 
We may sorrow over the ills or trials of those we 
love, we may sorrow over our own frailties and 
short-comings, yet above all is the assurance that 
we shall be comforted. I have much this year to 



478 Emory Upton, 

be grateful for. My mental condition is much im- 
proved. Last year at this time I was much de- 
pressed. I had malaria, and did not mistrust it 
till Dr. Robinson told me of it at Newport. Now, 
whenever I feel pains in the back of my head, I take 
from thirty to forty grains of quinine in thirty-six 
hours, and at once feel relieved. To-morrow I 
shall begin the revision of the tactics — a work of 
three months, and shall then again begin the Policy. 

Washington, August 27, 1880. 

My Precious Mother : My forty-first birthday 
would find me in excellent spirits, but for the re- 
flection that to-day you may still be suffering from 
rheumatism or neuralgia. You may be sure that 
none of your children forget you, or fail to offer the 
prayer that our heavenly Father may make your 
bed in sickness and speedily restore you to health. 
The same prayers, too, are offered for father, who 
with you has been favored with the rich blessings 
which God gives to his children. A day like this 
should make one look forward to the end of life. 
We are all hastening to the Border-Lands, and be- 
yond them by faith we can see those who have 
been near and dear to us in life. 

Rachel, Le Roy, and Emily, are all awaiting that 
reunion which shall know no separation. They 
have received the crown of life, and to us it is 
promised if we remain faithful unto the end. It 
may be our heavenly Father's will to afflict us 
with pain in this world, but we have the assurance 
that eye hath not seen nor ear heard the things 
which he hath prepared for those that love him. 



Death. 479 

Presidio, San Francisco, December i(i, 1880. 
All this week I have been settling down, and, 
as I have had to make several trips to the city, the 
days have slipped away very rapidly. I shall fur- 
nish one room with a carpet for parlor, and sleep 
in the one in rear, off which is a bath. The oldest 
inhabitant is abroad, and says he has never seen 
such weather. I think he is right, for I am told it 
has rained every day since the ist of December, 
and until to-day it has to my knowledge poured 
twenty hours out of twenty-four. This will be over 
in March. What effect it will have on my head it 
would be premature to say, but I don't expect to 
derive any benefit. 

Presidio, San Francisco, January i, 1881. 

My dear Father and Mother : The first let- 
ter of the new year shall be to you, to wish God's 
greatest blessings to rest upon you. With us the 
new year begins bright and sunny. In the East 
we read of cold and storm, but above all the Lord 
reigns. I am glad that the ist of January, 1881, 
has arrived, for now we can say that we hope this 
year to go East. 

Most of the officers and their families are fond 
of this coast. Their children are all well, and, a few 
weeks exxepted, the weather for most of the year is 
delightful. I shall soon be hard at work revising 
the tactics — I hope, for the last time. Then I shall 
go on with the book that is nearest my heart. 

The officers to-day are out calling in full uniform. 
I was much gratified to learn from Sara's letter that 
both of my good parents are improving in health. 



480 Emory Upton. 

My prayers for the coming year will be that God 
will have you in his tender keeping. 

Presidio, San Francisco, January 2, 1881. 

My dear Sara : I am beginning to feel quite 
domesticated. To-morrow the instruction begins 
on the new plan, and I shall hope soon to make my 
influence felt in the regiment. To-day I have had 
the company of an old West Point friend, General 
Tannatt. The last time I saw him I spent a week 
with him in the Rocky Mountains in 1866. Last 
night he came out with me, and has thus been my 
first guest. A multitude of associations came back 
when we, to-day, partook of the communion togeth- 
er. He and Benjamin and myself attended the first 
prayer-meeting established by General Howard at 
West Point. General Howard himself is in the 
city, and we all might have been together had we 
made an effort or thought of it. 

This evening General Tannatt and myself took 
a four-mile walk. The road lies wholly in the Res- 
ervation and winds around the hills, one moment 
commanding a view of the bay, and the next look- 
ing off on the grand Pacific. At the Golden Gate 
we came upon Fort Point, a brick castle with four 
tiers of guns. The hill back of it is twice its 
height, and is connected with it by a bridge which 
abuts against the parapet. So we descended into 
the fort as they entered houses in the time of the 
Saviour, by going through the roof. To-day and 
yesterday have been the only fine days we have 
had, and they have been like the loveliest autumn 
days at Fort Monroe. This week I shall begin 



Death, 481 

work on the tactics, and shall press it till the re- 
vision is done. 

These letters show a total ignorance of any 
serious danger which threatened his life. Indeed, 
in making a careful search throughout his volu- 
minous correspondence, with the exception of a few 
fragmentary references to malaria, as in the letter 
to Mrs. Martin, of February i, 1880, and to pains 
in his head, briefly referred to in a few instances, 
not the slightest evidence is found to warrant the 
suspicion that he was aware of his condition. That 
these ailments may have appeared trivial to him, 
and scarcely worth mentioning, might at once be 
inferred from the indifference which he invariably 
showed to personal physical suffering. Even in his 
home letters during the war, there is but the barest 
mention m.ade of his severe wounds received in 
battle, and he dismissed them with a sentence or 
two, simply expressing his hope of speedy recov- 
ery. Hence, while it may be inferred that any 
mention of depression of spirits or slight illnesses 
might be taken to mean that they were like the 
attacks ordinarily attending even the most excel- 
lent health, they may have been in his case, and 
were, as we know from other sources, quite serious 
in their character. 

While, in iS/o-'/s, General Upton was serving 
as commandant of cadets at West Point, he availed 
himself of the services of the dentist at the Acad- 
emy, Dr. Saunders, for whom he ever entertained 
a great regard. Dr. Saunders, in reply to inquiries 
regarding General Upton's malady, says : 



482 Emory Upton. 

General Upton consulted me professionally 
shortly after he reported for duty as commandant 
of cadets at West Point. During one of his earlier 
visits to my office I heard a distinct and regular 
throbbing in his head, very faint, however, and not 
beating in unison with the temporal artery on which 
my hand rested. When I drew his attention to 
this, he expressed surprise at my hearing it, and 
told me he had noticed the sound occasionally for 
some time past, and was puzzled to account for it. 

After this we discussed the subject at ^\Q.Yy 
visit. I advised him to see the post-surgeons, but 
they could give no satisfactory explanation of it. 

As time passed, the pulsation or ticking became 
more and more distinct, and the annoyance from it 
increased to such an extent that the general could 
not sleep unless greatly fatigued, and when his rest 
was once disturbed it was almost impossible for 
him to sleep again. 

I feared an aneurism, but never spoke my sus- 
picion ; I continually urged him to see a specialist. 
He consulted several physicians, but I do not think 
he tried any special treatment before going abroad. 

His letters to me while away were always cheer- 
ful — no allusion being made to his head troubles. 
He appeared to be enjoying his trip greatly, and 
told me that he was accumulating loads of valuable 
data for future use. 

When he returned, I congratulated him on his 
fine appearance, and I can remember well how 
anxiously he watched to see if I would find the old 
trouble. It was there. 

He came to see me from time to time, and it was 



Death. 483 

plain that he grew more and more uneasy about his 
disease. The last time I saw him, in the early part 
of the year 1880, he exclaimed, "Cure me of this, 
and I will give you ten thousand dollars ! " A min- 
ute afterward he said, " Allen understands it, and I 
will submit to his treatment." Whatever may have 
been the true nature of his fearful malady, we know 
not, probably never shall ; but that he bore up man- 
fully against a mysterious disease of whose presence 
he was ever conscious through its ceaseless knock- 
ings at the portals of his brain we have ample proof. 
That he struggled bravely and hopefully with it 
until reason left her throne, and death reheved him 
from his sufferings, all who knew him must admit. 

In conclusion, let me say that during the many 
years he was a constant visitor at my office, we 
touched in the course of conversation on almost 
every topic — literature, law, politics, military mat- 
ters, medicine, death, religion, etc. He was the 
most charming conversationalist I ever met — a 
bright, clear-headed man of affairs. At all times 
he was pronounced in his condemnation of suicide, 
not because he believed it, as is customary, a cow- 
ardly crime, but because " the Everlasting had fixed 
his canon 'gainst self-slaughter." Suicide was con- 
trary to his religion. General Upton was a relig- 
ious thinker, not an enthusiast, and no man ever 
lived more in accordance with his religious convic- 
tions. 

In accordance with the resolution referred to 
above, Upton took the earliest opportunity to con- 
sult with Dr. Harrison Allen, of Philadelphia, and 



484 Emory Upton. 

to make arrangements to place himself under his 
care for medical treatment. But three references 
to this matter occur in his correspondence. 

Governor s Islafid, July 6, 1880. — Dr. Allen told 
me, to-day, that he thought, if I could give him 
six weeks, he could cure my ailment, and I have 
resolved to take two months for that purpose. 

Philadelphia, September 22, 1880. — . . . I feel quite 
settled after my stay here for nearly a week. You 
will, doubtless, be anxious about my treatment. It 
is by no means severe. The actual cautery gives 
very little pain. It was applied about an hour ago, 
and now I feel no disagreeable effects whatever. 
My trouble makes me feel uncomfortable to myself, 
and therefore I have not as yet disclosed myself to 
any of my friends. 

November j, 1880. — . . . Lest you should imagine 
that I am suffering all sorts of agony, I wish to tell 
you I am not. The cautery has been applied but 
once since my return, and the doctor says he is 
about through with it. 

The hope entertained by Upton's physician and 
himself that this heroic treatment by electrical cau- 
terization of the mucous membrane of the nasal pas- 
sages would result efficaciously proved unfounded. 
He merely obtained temporary relief, and upon the 
expiration of his leave of absence he bade his friends 
adieu and proceeded to San Francisco to assume the 
command of his new regiment. From all obtainable 
data the writer of this memoir is unable to find the 
slightest evidence that would give the least color to 
any behef that General Upton at this time had the 



Death. 485 

remotest suspicion of his own danger. But a few 
days previous to his departure they spent an even- 
ing together, during which Upton for hours dis- 
coursed most charmingly and rationally upon the an- 
ticipated pleasure of his new duties and station, and 
gave a well-digested outline of his labors in the re- 
vision of his tactics and in the completion of his 
military policy. Most anxious was he to become 
again settled, and to resume the intellectual labor 
upon these works, whose completion seemed almost 
certain of realization. 

To convey the best view of what is known of his 
malady and its treatment, the following letters, the 
first written by Mr. Samuel Powel, of Philadelphia, 

to Mrs. M , and the other by Dr. Harrison Allen 

to the writer of this memoir, are quoted : 

Philadelphia, May 12, 1881. 

... I feel now, as I have from the beginning, 
surprised and dazed by the terrible surprise which 
overtook us all in a moment, but which, I am sure, 
the duration of my life can not efface. This must 
make a lasting bond among us all who loved and 
admired that wonderful man. 

The day after your letter came I called on Dr. 
Harrison Allen, who is an old acquaintance of mine, 
and I had with him a very full conversation about 
our friend, not only as to his malady and its treat- 
ment, but including General Upton's impressions as 
to his case, as he expressed them to Dr. Allen, and 
as Dr. Allen had recorded them in his case-book. 
I think the report, though very brief, will satisfy us 
that Dr. Hanford's views are well founded, and that 



4^6 Emory Upton. 

serious facts existed in General Upton's knowledge 
earlier than we probably have supposed. Bearing 
in mind the quiet, succinct language General Up- 
ton's brave and soldierly habits imparted to his sen- 
timents, and the few words he was accustomed to 
use as to his own concerns, those who know him 
can best understand the full force of Dr. Allen's 
brief record. 

General Upton told Dr. Allen, on presenting 
himself to him for the special treatment of his " nasal 
catarrh," that the affection had been of very long 
standing, and that, notwithstanding what may have 
been said, it certainly could not be referred to any 
specified origin ; that it had insidiously crept upon 
him in his youth, and had given him trouble even 
at West Point. Latterly the affection had caused 
him great discomfort, and it had often so oppressed 
his faculties of mind that he became convinced that, 
unless decidedly relieved, he could not much longer 
be of any service to the Government. 

This is the substance of what I derived from the 
reading of the record of Dr. H. Allen. He agreed 
with me that the description covered portentous 
meaning to those appreciating his patient's nature. 
Yet Dr. Allen did not, from his investigation while 
the treatment lasted, feel anxious about a serious 
result. The disease, he knew, was of an obstinate 
nature, but all along he expected good results from 
the system of treatment. It consisted in placing a 
very fine coiled wire upon any particular spot of 
the disordered membrane, and causing it to glow 
by electricity for a mere iTistant at a very high heat. 
This has the property of setting up a new action in 



Death. 487 

the circulation of the spot, and often renews the 
proper vital action which has lost its power through 
long-continued disorder and suppressed activity. 
It does not differ in principle from an old and very 
common remedy used by farriers called " firing " in 
the treatment of horses. It has been for a consid- 
erable time used in the treatment of various diffi- 
culties in human beings. . . . 

Dr. Allen told me he had considerable experi- 
ence with the method, and he had great and in- 
creasing success in employing it. He had good 
hopes, in the case of our friend, that it would prove 
ultimately successful. I gathered in conversation 
with him that he had no idea, on taking leave of 
General Upton, that there then existed any danger- 
ous condition of the bones upon which the brain re- 
poses. 

It has occurred to me that perhaps some primary 
cause for the irritation of the visible membranes 
covering the lower surface of these bones may have 
existed on the brain-side, and that the serious dis- 
ease may have been out of sight even to the specu- 
lum employed in such investigations. Dr. Allen 
saw no reason to suspect such a difficulty during 
treatment, but he recurred to the calm and plainly 
pronounced opinion of General Upton that his dis- 
order came over him in such a way as to cloud his 
mind and confuse his thoughts, so he was convinced 
it would unfit him to serve the Government. This 
was not reiterated by the general, but his once 
stating it seemed to rise in memory with great force 
upon Dr. Allen, as it did upon me while conversing 
upon the sad history. 



488 Emory Upton. 

You would be much gratified by hearing Dr. 
Allen's relation of the impression General Upton 
made upon most of his fellow-patients while waiting 
with them his turn in the anteroom. Few of them 
who were detained in his company failed to ask Dr. 
Allen who could be that remarkable man they had 
met in his parlor. Dr. Allen was much impressed 
with his noble, generous nature, and sincerely 
lamented his most untimely loss, which was a great 
surprise to him. 

Reflecting upon all I have heard, I think there 
must have been some local morbid cause, some 
actual disorganization of the brain-substance itself, 
and I am of the conviction that General Upton 
himself, months before his death, believed such to 
be the fact. That he was entirely unsuspicious 
of any remote assignable origin for it, beyond 
the mere insidious disorder for which he was un- 
der treatment, and for which he plainly said, so 
that Dr. Allen recorded it, that there was no known 
cause. 

We have nothing to remember or to reason 
about beyond the pure and elevated nature of the 
man with whom all our intercourse, that of every 
one who ever came in contact with him, assures us 
of, that of all human beings General Upton most 
especially lived as he undoubtedly died, under the 
convictions of his conscience, and in the discharge 
of what he believed to be the right. 

In response to a note of inquiry as to the nature 
of General Upton's disorder. Dr. Harrison Allen, on 
the 8th of March, 1884, wrote: 



Death. 489 

I duly received your letter of the 28th of Febru- 
ary, and will gladly give you such information as is 
in my possession. 

General Upton was suffering from a grave form 
of chronic catarrh when he was under my care. 
The nature of the disease was obscure, and I had 
not obtained sufficient light upon the subject to 
warrant proposing treatment other than that which 
had proved successful in my hands in other in- 
stances. I need scarcely say these measures did not 
secure the hoped-for relief, and when he left me in 
November it was with the understanding that he 
was to conduct an electrical treatment for a time, 
and that he would see me again for a second treat- 
ment. 

General Upton had a symptom which I had never 
before seen in a person who had not a tumor grow- 
ing somewhere in the region of the nose or the up- 
per throat-passages. That symptom was a bloody, 
chocolate-colored phlegm. I was so impressed with 
this peculiar discharge that I examined the general 
repeatedly and anxiously for some additional evi- 
dence of growth, but, finding none, I was unable to 
arrive at a diagnosis that a tumor existed. I have 
ascertained that some persons have declared that 
the surgeons found a tumor of the bones of the 
nose, as these bones join those of the brain-case. 
Be this as it may, I found enough to excite my sus- 
picions, but not enough to warrant surgical inter- 
ference. 

Respecting the connection existing between the 
disease and the suicidal mania, I can say little that 
has the value of evidence. General Upton com- 



49^ Emory Upton. 

plained of a dull, dazed feeling about the brows and 
crown. The sensation was compared to a veil 
dropping down over his mental faculties. The 
general conceived that, since this feeling inter- 
fered with application, it might become his duty 
to resign from the army. As he expressed it, 
he feared he was no longer of use to the Govern- 
ment. 

This state of mind often exists in the subjects of 
nasal catarrh, and was especially noticeable in Gen- 
eral Upton's case. 

I think it probable that the catarrh was a symp- 
tom excited by a slowly-growing tumor, or slowly- 
extending inflammation, which involved the remote 
recesses of the face, and, by a sudden change in its 
character, the membranes of the brain as well ; or 
so excited the brain to morbid activity as to explain 
the suicidal mania. The report of the surgeons 
who made the post-mortem examination would be 
valuable in this connection. * 

I fear I have not answered your inquiry as fully 
as you would like. At best, I can but frame a prob- 
ability. 

I became much attached to General Upton, and 
felt keenly the responsibility I assumed when he 
came under my care. In calmly reviewing the facts 
of his case, now that nearly four years have elapsed 
since he was here, I can not see that anything more 
could have been done than was attempted, and I can 
only express in conclusion profound pity that so 
noble a nature should have been lost to his country 
through the ravages of disease. 

* None was made. 



Death. ' 49 1 

Colonel Henry C. Hasbrouck, a classmate of 
Upton's, and at the time of the latter's death an offi- 
cer of his regiment and under his command, writes : 

Fort Adams, Newport, R. I., February lo, 1882. 

... I shall give you concisely what came under 
my observation that had any bearing upon his death, 
and that might in my opinion be useful to you in 
the preparation of your memoir. 

When he first joined the regiment he told me he 
was sorry to come out West ; that he particularly 
desired to remain East, in order to avail himself of 
the services of a specialist whom he had consulted 
about a catarrhal trouble that worried him. Long 
before, and up to the time of his death, he frequent- 
ly complained about severe headaches. I. particu- 
larly remember one instance, when we had been to 
the theatre together, to see the first representation 
of a play written by Captain Field, of the Fourth 
Artillery. I asked him his opinion of it, and he told 
me he could form none, as his head had so much 
pained him that he had no remembrance at all of 
the first act, and went on to say that he supposed 
he was going to have another one of his bad nights ; 
that he was frequently unable to sleep, and after 
lying down for a while would be compelled to get 
up and walk the room for some hours, and until he 
became so fatigued that he could get a little sleep 
before reveille. 

Nearer the end I have heard him complain that 
he had been under the charge of the best specialists 
for his catarrhal trouble ; that they could give him 
no relief ; that he never could get cured ; that the 



492 Emory Upton. 

headaches were getting longer and more painful. 
He spoke of these things in such a simple, uncom- 
plaining way, and he was all the time working so 
hard, and never neglecting even the shghtest detail 
of a post duty or a drill, that it made but little im- 
pression upon me at the time. 

It was Sunday morning, March 13th, that I first 
realized how much he was suffering. I happened to 
be alone with him in his office, and, in answer to my 
inquiry about his headache, he broke down com- 
pletely, laid his head on his desk, and sobbed. After 
he was composed I walked with him to his quarters, 
and was much with him all that day and evening, 
and also Monday evening. He was very despond- 
ent, talked of the loss of his will-power, and of the 
respect of the officers of the regiment, spoke much 
of the failure of his tactics, and particularly of the 
system of deployment as skirmishers, said if his sys- 
tem was adopted it would involve the country in 
disaster in the next war. 

All day Monday, the 14th, I was sitting on a 
court, and was not with him until evening. He at- 
tended to all his duties, and nothing unusual was 
noticed by any one except by the adjutant, Mr. 
Dyer, to whom he had also, but not to such an ex- 
tent as to me, spoken of his ill-health and despond- 
ency. When I saw him Monday evening he was 
still depressed, but when I left him I thought he was 
in a somewhat more cheerful mood, and he had 
given a sort of promise that he would go to Mon- 
terey next day. That night he shot himself, and 
was found dead in his bed next morning. 

There was no one in the house but his Chinese 



Death. 493 

servants, who slept in a room far removed from 
him, and who heard no noise nor disturbance dur- 
ing the night. I never thought at the time that his 
mind was affected, but I do now believe that it was. 
After his death I learned that he had exhibited some 
signs of loss of memory just previous to the 13th of 
March. He had forgotten and could not recall the 
names nor remembrance of some gentlemen and 
ladies whom he had met and traveled with in Japan ; 
this seemed to have given him much trouble. He 
was unreasonably sanguine about his tactics. He 
told a gentleman in San Francisco that there would 
be no more war after his tactics were published ; 
that the system was so perfect that, given two coun- 
tries and their resources, the result of a conflict be- 
tween them could be calculated with mathematical 
certainty. 

My impression, when he first spoke to me about 
his troubles, was, that he was in a state of nervous 
depression, partly owing to his catarrhal troubles, 
but principally to overwork and hard study. 

It seems to be the accepted opinion that the 
catarrhal trouble had extended up into the nasal 
sinuses, that pus had collected there and pressed 
upon the brain, and thereby produced the mental 
disorder that made him falsely imagine that he had 
lost the respect of his officers, that his tactics were 
a failure, etc., and, finally, that night when he re- 
tired, resulted in suicidal mania. 

You know as well as I his ability and devotion 
to duty. Under all these troubles, and even through 
that last Monday, every detail of his duty as post 
and regimental commander was attended to as care- 



494 Emory Upton. 

fully as if he were in perfect health. No one knows 
what exertion of will was exacted to accomplish 
this under the burden he was struggling with. 

I have never served under an officer who so 
thoroughly commanded the respect, confidence, and 
affection of those under him. His self-command 
during these last few days was so complete that no 
one but Mr. Dyer and I knew of his despondency. 

That his mind was affected, and no longer capa- 
ble of complete healthy action, and that this con- 
dition resulted from the rapid progress of his dis- 
ease, whereby the brain had become involved in its 
turn, is unquestionably evident from the above nar- 
ration. As collateral evidence of this alarming con- 
dition, the following letter, both as to date and 
character, shows that the delusion as to his tactics 
was, for the time being, the subject of his irrespon- 
sible thoughts. 

Presidio, San Francisco, March 13, 1881. 

My dear Sara : Since writing to you, last Sun- 
day, I have been in no little distress over the re- 
vision. It has seemed to me that I must give up 
my system and lose my military reputation. God 
only knows how it will eventually end, but I trust 
he will lead me to sacrifice myself, rather than to 
perpetuate a method which might in the future cost 
a single man his life. Whichever way it may turn, 
I know I shall have your sympathy, and may our 
heavenly Father bless and keep you and our pre- 
cious father and mother ! 

I need all your prayers, for I would keep my in- 
tegrity. 



Death. 495 

Friday I went over to Oakland to a luncheon. 
The city is flat, and has beautiful lawns strewed 
with flowers. I don't feel like writing- any more. 
Onl}^ let me feel that I have your love and sym- 
pathy. 

With a fervent kiss for you all, ever your affec- 
tionate brother, Emory. 

Again, the unfinished letter to the adjutant-gen- 
eral, found on the desk in his quarters, relates to 
the same subject : 

To the Adjutant-General U. S. A. 

Sir : In my effort to revise the tactics so that 
they might apply to companies over two hundred 
strong, I discovered that the double column and 
the deployment by numbers, when compared with 
the French method, was a failure. The fours, too, 
I was forced to admit — . 

With an extraordinary effort of will, resisting 
the attacks of the enemy, and yet with a heroism 
impelling him to withdraw from that service with 
which he felt he could no longer do his whole duty, 
he penned at the last moment, before the citadel of 
his mind was surrendered, the following : 

Presidio, San Francisco, March 14, 188 1. 
To the Adjutant-General U. S. A. 

Sir: I hereby tender my resignation as colonel 
of the Fourth Artillery. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

E. Upton, 
Colonel Fourth Artillery. 



49^ Emory Upton. 

This heroic but misdirected act completed, 
Emory Upton's life on earth ceased. Disease, in- 
sidiously sapping at the foundations of his bodily 
organization, had finally intrenched itself in that 
highest of all physical organs, the brain, and his 
pure soul, having no longer a fit abiding-place on 
earth, sought its flight heavenward. 

In reviewing the foregoing testimony, no one 
can question these conclusions which flow from 
it: 

1. That his disease, known as a "chronic nasal 
catarrh," originating imperceptibly during his cadet 
life, grew unnoticeably, and after a long time be- 
came first annoying and finally distressful. 

2. That, although he suffered from severe head- 
aches from 1875 till 1879, wholly unaccountably to 
himself, professional opinion led him to believe that 
he was attacked by malaria, and that he then took 
the proper medicinal remedies in the hope of speedy 
recovery. 

3. Finally, alarmed at the progress of his disease, 
he consulted an eminent specialist, and underwent 
heroic treatment for its cure, which, however, pro- 
duced no permanent relief. 

4. That now he began to fear that he could no 
longer be of any use to the Government, because 
of the frequent recurrence of his dreadful head- 
aches, to the dropping of a veil over his mental 
faculties, attacks which, becoming more and more 
frequent, marked the rapid progress of his disease, 
until, in the language of his physician, " finally by a 
sudden change in its character the slowly extend- 
ing inflammation involved the membranes of the 



Death. 497 

brain, or so excited the brain to morbid activity as 
to explain the suicidal mania." 

Just as any organ becoming diseased transmits 
false intelligence to the mind, so in this case, when 
the brain itself became the seat of disease, the acts 
which are directed by its working are no longer 
those of the heroic. Christian man, whose career 
we have followed. Disintegration, quickly followed 
by death, marks the period of irresponsible utter- 
ances and actions. 

We have seen, from the testimony of Lieutenant 
McClernand, how futile were the expressed fears of 
Upton as to the failure of his tactics. Examined and 
tested by him, they are found to be without fault 
or defect. And yet, Upton's comrades being wholly 
in darkness as to their excellences or defects, it was 
the only matter upon which any explanation could 
be based for his sudden decease, in an event so per- 
fectly startling and unexpected. 

To the possible existence of any other specific 
disease which might have existed, and whose con- 
sequences might lead him to seek relief in death, 
the writer of this memoir, in pursuance of his duty, 
with a full sense of his responsibility, and in justice 
to Upton's memory, has directed his closest atten- 
tion. And he has established in his own mind, by 
the strongest of all possible evidence, a firm belief 
that not only no other disease than that described 
by his physician existed, but that there is not even 
the slightest evidence to warrant even a suspicion 
of its existence. 

If the proper estimate of a man's inherent char- 
acter be that which is derived from the completed 



49 8 E^nory Upton. 

history of his thoughts and actions from boyhood 
till the end of hfe, what is the reiterated and con- 
current testimony as to the subject of our sketch ? 
The pages of his Hfe's history lie open before us. 
His letters as a boy, as a military student, an active 
soldier, and a traveler in foreign lands, are happily 
preserved, and, not one being written for the public 
eye, they give us an insight into his real nature and 
all record a clean, pure, and spotless life. 

Such, also, is the testimony of those who en- 
joyed his friendship, and were permitted to sound 
the depths of his nature. The following letter of 
the Rev. E. P. Roe is here preserved in corrobora- 
tion of this opinion. 

THE DEATH OF GENERAL UPTON. 
BY REV. E. P. ROE. 

Dear Evangelist: While pastor of the Pres- 
byterian Church at Highland Falls, near West 
Point, I formed the acquaintance of General Emory 
Upton, then commandant of the cadets. His mili- 
tary reputation, his position, and especially his hero- 
ism and great usefulness in our national struggle 
for life, entitled him to respect ; but his genial per- 
sonal qualities soon developed that respect into ad- 
miration and warm friendship. For several years 
I saw him frequently ; my wife and I were guests 
at his quarters, and we often had the pleasure of 
entertaining him and the members of his house- 
hold at the parsonage. Our intimacy led to the 
frankest interchange of thought and feeling, and I 
had abundant opportunities of observing the work- 



Death. 499 

ings and tendencies of a strong and brilliant mind. 
His views on the great moral and political ques- 
tions of the day were courageous, advanced, and, 
above all things. Christian. My interviews with 
him were always tonic in their effects, and his 
hearty sympathy with every phase of a pastor's 
work was a kindly inspiration to new and better 
effort. He spoke to me often and fully, both of his 
duty in relation to the cadets and his work in the 
line of authorship, and I saw without disguise the 
governing motives of his daily life and effort. In 
all sincerity I assert that I can not recall a single 
expression, or an inadvertent yet significant act, 
that indicated a selfish ambition or a debasing tend- 
ency. He was ambitious, but in the large, manly 
way characteristic of all men of unusual force and 
ability. It was never the self-seeking which grasps, 
snatches, or begrudges the meed of others. Never 
would he stoop a hair's breadth to any man or any 
power to gain an end ; never would he disguise an 
honest conviction did his manhood prompt its ex- 
pression. 

His method of self-advancement was to serve 
his country with devoted and uncalculating loyalty, 
and to perform the duties of his station with scru- 
pulous fidelity. He was regarded by the cadets as 
a severe disciplinarian on the plain and in camp, 
and as a kind and genial friend in his own quarters. 

His Christian influence at West Point was un- 
obtrusive, but decided and strong ; and so consist- 
ent was his life that I can recall not even a word of 
criticism breathed against his religious profession 
or character. As is ever the case with forceful, 



500 Emory Upton. 

positive men, there were a few who did not like 
him ; but never have I heard him spoken of in other 
terms than those of respect. 

It is a fact, perhaps not generally known, that 
the cadets maintain among themselves a prayer- 
meeting, which in points of interest and attendance 
compares favorably with any existing in other col- 
leges. This at least was true a few years since, 
and I think it is so still. While the general did 
not think it wise, in view of his relations to the 
young men, to attend these meetings, his interest 
in them was warm and constant ; and occasionally, 
when my duties permitted me to be present, and 
I afterward referred to the simple, manly earnest- 
ness which was the refreshing characteristic of the 
words spoken and prayers uttered, his face would 
glow with honest gratification, that was as unmis- 
takable as the light of day. I know that the chap- 
lain of the post, the Rev. Dr. Forsyth, ever found 
in him a cordial and useful ally. 

In later years, after he had made a tour of the 
world, by order of the Government, that he might 
study the military systems of other nations, I vis- 
ited him at Fortress Monroe, and he returned the 
visit at my home at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson. I 
saw on these occasions only changes for the better 
— a broader and more liberal mind, a deeper en- 
thusiasm for his profession, and an eager desire to 
make the army more effective for all the purposes 
for which it exists. He banished wholly from the 
mind the impression that rank and station were 
ends to be sought for their own sake. They were 
but the vantage-ground from which he hoped to 



Death. 501 

advance to a larger and wider usefulness. He 
seemed much impressed with grave defects in our 
military system and with the evils of political med- 
dling and mismanagement, and was full of the hope 
of doing something to aid in bringing about changes 
for the better. There were in his manner the same 
direct gaze, the same twinkle of genial humor in 
his eyes, the same honest, manly ring to his words, 
nor had life abroad relaxed the high moral tone of 
his thought and convictions. 

He was always broad and charitable in his views, 
but his liberality was not of that flabby kind which 
makes little distinction between right and wrong, 
and tolerates with easy-going indifference that which 
is questionable. In nice points of honor between 
man and man he was scrupulous to the last degree, 
and I have sometimes thought that the element of 
fear was left out of his nature or else driven forth 
by his resolute will. 

Faults he undoubtedly had, as have all men ; but 
I have rarely met one who had so few weaknesses. 

To the manly strength of his character, his 
deep but unobtrusive devotion to the memory of 
his beautiful young wife gave an indescribable 
grace. Only to those who knew him well would 
he speak on this subject ; but on one or two occa- 
sions I saw clearly that she was an abiding presence 
in the inner sanctuary, the " holy of holies," of 
his heart. Having had this insight, I saw that 
many of his characteristics were the result of the 
sacred, purifying influence of one to whom he was 
as constant as if she were a living wife. She was 
always his bride. 



502 Emory Upton. 

When, therefore, the tidings came that such a 
man had " committed suicide," I experienced a 
shock that I can not describe. It was as if some- 
thing as stable as the everlasting hills had given 
way. Then almost instantly the conviction came 
that it was not suicide in the ordinary acceptance 
of the word — that there must be an explanation of 
the act which would prove him irresponsible. 

Character is the most priceless possession of man 
or woman, and a character like his was the result 
of a long and continued growth. Many and varied 
circumstances and influences had combined to form 
it ; but, above all, his resolute will, co-working in 
hearty accord and sympath)^ with the will of God, 
was the chief source of its strength and complete- 
ness. His faith was of the practical and genuine 
cast that entered into and controlled all that he said 
and did, and not a thing of forms and observances. 

When a man commits an act that is strange, un- 
accountable, and in itself most evil, it is supremely 
unjust to disregard the logic of a good, noble life, 
and interpret the act in a sinister way, if any other 
explanation is possible. It is not the mantle of 
charity that is needed, but clear-eyed justice, that 
fairly estimates all the facts in the case. He is 
either base himself or else exceedingly superficial 
or ignorant who can believe that, after goodness 
and honor have become the warp and woof of char- 
acter, a man can deliberately give himself up to 
crime. His taste for carrion is insatiable who will 
believe this when there is no adequate motive or 
overwhelming temptation. The fair and candid 
mind interprets the isolated act in the light of past 



Death. 503 

life and steadily maintained character, and, in an 
instance like this, feels assured that there must be 
an explanation which will leave no shadow on an 
illustrious name. 

There are explanations which are neither forced 
nor far-fetched. How often the frail body sudden- 
ly gives way when greatly overtaxed ! Experience 
proves that the overwrought mind is in greater 
danger. The facts are that General Upton was a 
martyr to a disease that apparently was incurable 
— catarrh in his head. His sufferings from this 
infirmity were almost constant, and for years he 
sought relief in vain. Last fall he put himself un- 
der the care of a specialist, and endured without 
flinching the pain of " actual cautery." Any good 
physician can suggest, but never make the reader 
comprehend, the intensity of the anguish caused by 
this operation. Having received but little benefit 
from six weeks of treatment. General Upton re- 
turned to his friends greatly discouraged and op- 
pressed with the feeling that he would eventually 
succumb to this disease. 

Bearing this almost intolerable burden of phys- 
ical pain, he resumed the duties of his rank and 
station, to which was superadded the mental effort 
to solve one of the most difficult military problems 
of the age. What man, what mind could long en- 
dure such a strain? Under these triple burdens 
there was a point beyond which he could not pass. 
He may not have realized this truth until the crisis 
was upon him, and with characteristic reticence he 
would be more inclined to hide than to speak much 
of his distress beyond the limits of his own family. 



504 Emory Upton. 

In the strongest of inspired language God has 
commended the charity that thinketh no evil. But 
little charity do they deserve who persist in think- 
ing evil in the face of a good, pure life ; little char- 
ity should they receive who heedlessly or venom- 
ously seek to destroy the character which has been 
built up by long years of patient continuance in 
well-doing. 

I believe that my friend fought the good fight, 
that his warfare is accomplished, and that he has 
received a higher rank and richer reward than even 
the grateful nation he served so faithfully could be- 
stow. 

The funeral ceremonies at San Francisco were 
such as were befitting the well-beloved comrade and 
eminent soldier. His remains were brought to 
Willowbrook, attended by two of his former com- 
rades, and after the final services of the Church they 
were placed by the side of those of his beloved wife 
in the cemetery of Fort Hill at Auburn. 

On the fly-leaf of his Bible, under the date Au- 
gust 31, 1879, is inscribed in his own hand, " What- 
soever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord, and 
not unto man." Exemplifying this text throughout, 
strong in faith, ardent in piety, firm in adherence to 
the Church, zealous in his official duties, loved for 
his personal virtues, and honored for his official in- 
tegrity, his earthly life, rounded and complete, pre- 
sents a fitting prelude and preparation for that 
heavenly life whose reality he now unquestionably 
enjoys. 



INDEX. 



Abraham, Captain, i68. 

Adams, General Daniel, 149, 150, 

154. 157- 
Adams, General Wirt, 140, 141, 

158, 171, 172. 
Afghans, 344. 
Agra, 329. 

Alexander, General A. J., 151, 160- 
163, 165, 167, 169, 170, 219, 
46S. 
Allen, Dr. Harrison, 483-4S3. 

Letter of, 488. 
Ancestry, i. 

Anderson, General Robert, 211. 
Angle, at Spottsylvania, 110-112. 
Appointment, Judge Pringle's let- 
ter of, 7. 
Armistead's brigade, 141. 
Armstrong, General F. C., I57- 
Armstrong's brigade, 140 - 149, 

153-156. 
Army organization, principles of, 
407. 
of China, 394. 
of India, 396. 
of Japan, 392. 
of Persia, 400. 
Arnold, Captain Richard, 55. 
Artillery School, Fort Monroe, 389. 
Asper, Joel F., 263. 
Ayres's brigade, 95. 
Ayres, General R. B., 195, 196. 
22 



Baird, Captain, 52. 

Banks, General N. P., 77. 

Barry, General W. F., 198, 204, 

211, 212. 
Bartlett, General J. J., 73, 74, 82, 

113- 
Bates, Captain A. E., 206, 207, 209, 

213. 
Battle's brigade, 125. 
Beaumont, Major E. B., 160, 177. 
Belknap, Secretary W. W., 213, 

300. 
Bell's brigade, 139, 141, 149. 
Benjamin, Colonel S., 480. 
Benteen, Colonel F. W., 175. 
Bimey's division, 103. 
Birney, General, 112. 
Black, Colonel H. M., 19}, 196, 

198, 204, 205. 
Board, Tactical, Report of, 195. 

Grant, 198. 

Report of, 202. 

Assimilation, 206. 
Boyd, Captain, 93. 
Bragg, General Braxton, 78. 
Breckenridge's division, 118. 
Bruce, Mr., 363. 
Buford's division, 140-142, 146. 
Burhaus, Captain, 99. 
Burial of Upton, 504. 
Burning of cadet barracks, 273. 
Burns, Captain, 93. 



5o6 



Index. 



Burnside, General A. E., lOi. 
Burnside's Army Bill, 454. 
Butler, General B. F., 117. 
Butterfield, General Daniel, 45. 

Cadets visit Washington, 274. 
Calcutta, 336. 

Campaign, Grant's overland, Up- 
ton's report of, 92-107. 
situation after, 1 17-120. 
Campbell's brigade, 126, 141, 149. 
Campbell, Major Douglas, eulogy 

of Upton, 67-70. 
Canby, General R. S., 135, 159, 

198, 204. 
Capron's brigade, 131. 
Carroll, Lieutenant-Colonel, 92. 
Casey's (General Silas) Tactics,i90, 

198, 216. 
Cavalry corps, Wilson's, 145-178. 
Chalmers's brigade, 140-142, 145, 
146, 148, 149, 151, 153, 158, 
171, 172. 
Characteristics, Upton's early, 4-7. 
China, military academy plan, 291- 
298. 
appointment to, 284-289. 
Chinese dinner, 319. 

Temple of Horrors, 324. 
Chinkiang, 323. 
Clanton's brigade, 141. 
Clitz, General H. B., 194, 196. 
Cold Harbor, 109. 
Colorado, journey to, 179-186. 
Columbus, capture of, 165. 
Colonel Fourth Regiment of Artil- 
lery, 468. 
Commandant of cadets, 245-256. 

Upton as, 275-280. 
Congressional committee's censure, 
263. 
reply to, 266-270. 
comments on, 270-273. 



Cooke, General P. St. George, 216. 
Corruption of officials, 373. 
Courtship, Upton's, 217-229. 
Crawford's division, 95. 
Cremation in India, 340. 
Criticism of generals, 79-81. 
Crook, General, 120, 128. 
Crossland's brigade, 150-154. 
Croxton's brigade, 147, 148, 151, 

152, 158, 170-172. 
Cyrus's tomb, 363. 
Czar of Russia, 381. 

Dalton, Major H. R., 92, 97, 126. 
Davis, Jefferson, 33, 425. 
Death, Upton's, 474. 

Mrs. Upton's, 235-241. 
Delhi, route to, 329,331. 
Duffy, Lieutenant-Colonel, 93. 
Du Pont, Colonel H. A., 206-208, 
210, 213, 416,417. 
Upton's letter to, tactics, 208- 

211. 
Upton's letter to, military policy, 
418-425. 
Dwight's division, 126. 
Dyer, Lieutenant A. B., 492, 494. 

Early's (General) operations, 118- 
124. 

Education, Upton's early, 3. 

Edwards's brigade, 85, 126. 

Eggleston, Colonel, 167. 

Ellis, Major, loi. 

England's Eastern policy, 326. 

Estimate of Upton by Major Camp- 
bell, 67-70. 

European trip, 230-233. 

Ewell's attack, 103. 

Farnham's Zouaves, 48. 
Fenton, Governor R. E., 66, 243. 
Fifield, Rachel, i. 



Index. 



507 



Fish, Captain, lOi, 102, 107. 
Forsyth, General George A., 299, 

300, 333, 373. 384- 
Forsyth, Rev. Dr. John, 500. 
Franchot, Colonel Richard, 66, 67. 
Franklin's division, 61. 
French, General, 211, 212. 
F17, Captain James B., 47. 

Galloway, G. Norton, 112. 
Garfield, General J. A., 421, 449, 

451-453, 464- 
letter from Upton on Fitz-John 

Porter, 458. 
letter to Upton on Fitz-John 

Porter, 464. 
letters to Upton on Military 

Policy, 450. 
Garrard's division, 131. 
Getty's division, 125. 
Gibbon, General John, 74. 
Gillem, General A. C, 178. 
Gillis's battery, 100. 
Gilpin, aide-de-camp, 178. 
Gordon, Lieutenant, 93, 106. 
Gordon's division, 125. 
Gorton, Captain, 99. 
Grant, General U. S., 77, 78, 89, 

91, 107, 118-120, 123, 130, 

131, 133, 159. 195. 197, 193, 

204, 205, 245. 
Grier, General W. N., 198, 204. 
Griffin, General, 194, 195- 
Griffin's division, 104. 
Grierson's division, 132, 133. 
Grover's division, 126. 

Hall, Captain, 85. 
Hamilton, Colonel John, 206. 
Hancock, General W. S., 74, no. 
Hardee, General, 190, 216. 
Hasbrouck, Colonel H. C, 469, 
491-494. 



Hascall, Lieutenant H. G., 52. 
Hatch, General, 132, 133, 135. 
Heintzelman, General, 49. 
Hill, General B. H., 172. 
Himalayas, expedition to, 333. 
Hindoo temples at Benares, 340. 
Hong-Kong, 323. 
Hood, General, 133, 134, 136, 139. 
Hooker, General, 63. 
Howard, General O. O., 52, 480. 
Hubbard, Major, 144. 
Humphreys, General A. A., 107. 
Hunt, General, 198, 211, 212, 

216. 
Hunter, General David, 11 8-120. 

India, letters from, 326-346. 
Influence of West Point, 37-41. 
Irving, Colonel, 64. 
Ispahan, 364. 

Jackson's division, 140-142, 146— 

149, 151, 152, 171. 
Jackson, Stonewall, 84, 423, 459- 

461. 
Johnson, Lieutenant, 121st New 

York, 98. 
First New York Battery, 126. 
Johnson's division, 133, 135. 
Johnston, General Joseph E., 78, 

169. 

Keck, Lieutenant Peter, 169. 
Keck, Lieutenant Sloan, 169. 
Kellogg, Colonel, 104, 105. 
Kent, Lieutenant-Colonel J. F., 

127. 
Kershaw's division, 124. 
Keyes, Colonel E. D., 52. 
Kilpatrick, General, 74, 131, 133. 
Kirkwood, Dr., 235. 
Knipe's division, 133, 135. 
Kyber Pass, 344. 



5o8 



Index. 



La Grange's brigade, 148, 152, 159, 

165. 
Lamoiit, Captain, loi. 
Latta, Major James W., 169, 176, 

181. 
Lee, General R. E., 62, 73-75, 78, 
79, 89, 91, 118, 119, 124, 142, 
172. 
Lessig, Colonel, 102. 
Letters, extracts from Upton's : 
Berlin, 385. 
China, 316-326. 
Geneva, 378. 
in the field, 45-65, 70-92, io3, 

112, 116. 
India, 326-346. 
Japan, 312-316. 
Pacific Ocean, 309, 312. 
Persia, 348-370. 
Rome, 376-378. 
Russia, 379-385. 
West Point, 12-19, 21-25. 
West Point, on secession, 27-37. 
Yosemite, 304. 
of resignation, 495. 
to Du Pont on tactics, 208-211. 
to Du Pont on Military Policy, 

418-425. 
to Garfield on Fitz-John Porter, 

458. 
of Dr. Harrison Allen, 488. 
of General Garfield to Upton 

(Fitz-John Porter), 464. 
of General Garfield to Upton 

(Military Policy), 450. 
of Colonel Hasbrouck (Upton's 

death), 491. 
of Samuel Powel (Upton's death), 

485- 
of Judge Pringle (appointment 

to West Point), 7. 
of Rev. E. P. Roe (Upton's 

death), 498. 



Letter of Dr. William Saunders 
(Upton's death), 482. 
of General Sherman (instruc- 
tions), 300. 

Lewis, Captain, 167. 

Lincoln, President, 28, 30, 123, 
172, 440, 446, 447. 

Litchfield, General, 336. 

Long's division, 133, 144, 150, 153 
-156, 163. 

Longstreet, General, 74, 106, 461, 
462. 

Lovejoy, Owen, 53-55. 

Low, Mr., 284, 286. 

Lucknow, 329. 

McCausland's raid, 120. 
McClellan, General, 60, 62, 123, 

423-425, 448, 458. 
McClernand, Lieutenant E. J., 

468, 469, 497. 
McCook, General A. McD., 52. 
McCook's division, 131, 133, 144, 

147, 148, 153,158-160,165,170. 
McCulloch, Colonel, 140. 
McDonald, Major, 105. 
McDowell, General, 47-49, 52, 59, 

60, 423, 460, 461. 
Mcllvaine, Bishop, 24. 
Mackenzie, General R. S., 96, 106. 
McGlasson, Captain. 168. 
Mahan, Professor, 52. 
McLaughlin's brigade, loi. 
McMahon, Lieutenant - Colonel 

Martin, 105. 
Manoeuvres, Russian, 382. 
Mansfield, Geneifel, 45. 
Martin, Emily Norwood, 217. 
E. T. Throop, 217. 
Mrs. E. T. Throop, 481. 
Mather, Major, 85. 
Meade, General George, 73, 79, 87, 

88, 115, 198, 204. 



Index. 



509 



Merritt, General Wesley, 206, 457. 
Metcalf, Lieutenant, 100. 

Military epochs of the United 
States, 426. 

lessons of the Revolution, 428. 

policy during War of 1812, 430. 

during Mexican War, 433. 

prior to 1862, during the rebel- 
lion, 444. 

letters referring to projected 
work, 418. 

suggestion upon, 410. 
Miller's brigade, 153. 
Minty, Colonel, 156. 
Missionaries in India, 330. 
Mitchell, General O. M., 55. 
Morgan, General Charles II., 208. 
Morris's brigade, 94. 
Morris, General, igS. 
Morse, Mary, i. 
Morse, Lieutenant F., 107. 
Muscat, 347. 

Sultan of, 349. 

Napier, Lord, 331, 332. 
Newton, General John, 61. 
Noble, Colonel, 167. 
Northbrook, Lord, 336. 

O'Donnell, Private, 98. 
Olcutt, Lieutenant-Colonel, 72, 94. 
Omaney, Major, 344. 
Orders for foreign tour, 299. 
O'Reilly, Rev. Father, 4. 

Packard, Jasper, 263. 
Paine, Captain, 102. 
Patterson's regiment, 161, 162. 
Patterson, Lieutenant F. G., 95, 

107. 
Paul, General, 74. 
Penang, 327. 



Peninsular campaign, 447. 
Penrose, Colonel, 93, 94. 
Persepolis, ruins of, 361. 
Peshawer, 347. 

Persia contrasted with the Cau- 
casus, 371. 

irrigation in, 364. 

poverty in, 365. 

punishments in, 352. 

travel in, 360. 
Pitcher, General T. G., 246, 266, 

270, 273, 279. 
Piatt, Captain, 55. 
Pope, General John, 62, 178, iSi, 

459, 460, 462. 
Porter, Captain, 62. 

Porter, General Fitz-John, 458- 

460, 462-464. 

Potter, General John H., 206. 
Prince of Wales, 23, 336-338, 340- 

342. 
Pringle, Judge Benjamin, 7-9, 29, 

35.41. 
Promotion, recommendations for, 

113-115- 

Ramseur's division, 124. 
Randall, Stephen, and Electa, r, 

2, 
Rappahannock Station, 82-86. 
Rawul Pindee, 342. 
Report, Upton's, Fourth Cavalry 

Division, 160. 
Upton's, on overland campaign, 

92. 
Grant's, tactics, 202. 
Retirement, compulsory, 456. 
Review of troops, India, 331. 
Revolutionary period, 426. 
Reynolds, General John F., 74, 

461, 462. 

Ricketts, General James B., loi, 
104, 105, 462. 



5IO 



Index. 



Roddy's brigade, 139, 141, I45. 

146, 149-151. 153, 154. 157. 

162. 
Rodney's batteiy, 155, 163, 167. 
Rosecrans, General W. S., 77. 
Ross, Colonel and Mrs., 353, 

354- 
Ross's Texans, 141. 
Rucker's brigade, 139. 
Ruger, General Thomas H., 209, 

279. 
Runyon, General, 47, 48. 
Russell, General David A., 82-86, 

96, 99, 100, 125-127, 193. 

Sanborn, Captain F. G., 107. 

Sanborn, General, 181. 

Sanger, Major I. P., 299, 300, 330, 

331, 333. 373- _ 
Saunders, Dr. William, 482. 
Schenck, General Robert, 52. 
Schofield, General John M., 205, 

213, 467. 
Scott, General Winfield, 34, 190, 

216, 244, 425, 433, 436. 
Seaver, Colonel, 97. 
Sedgwick, General John, 88, 94, 

115- 
Selma campaign, 130. 
Serfs, Russian, 380. 
Seward, W. H., 284, 286, 288. 
Seymour, General Truman, 208. 
Sheridan, General, 121, 122, 124, 

126, 129, 130. 
Sherman, General T. W., answer 

to letter of, 198-202. 
Sherman, General W, T., 130-134, 

159, 169, 207, 210, 211,^^8, 

300, 302, 378, 420, 467. 
Sigel, General, 461, 462. 
Singapore, 326. 

Slocum, General H. W., 263, 264. 
Speidel, Major, 48, 49. 



Spottsylvania, assault of, lines, 

96. 
Stannard's brigade, 106. 
Stanton, E. M., Secretary of War, 

196, 204, 243, 423, 424. 
Starke's brigade, 140, 141, 147, 

149. 153, 155- 
Steele's column, 142, 146. 
Stevens's batteiy, 128. 
Stoneman, General, 132, 178. 
Studies, tactical, 188-195. 

Tactics, adopted, 213. 

revision of, 467, 470. 

letters in reference to, 208. 

Upton's claim respecting, 215. 
Tactical studies, 188-195. 
Taku forts, 321. 
Tannatt, General, 480. 
Taylor, General Richard, 141, 146, 

147, 149. 
Teheran, 353, 367. 
Temple, Sir Richard, 337. 
Thayer, General Sylvanus, 38. 
Thomas, Colonel Lorenzo, 44. 
Thomas, General George H., 159. 
Tourtellotte, Colonel, 206, 207, 

209, 213. 
Townsend, General E. D., 177, 

191, 198. 
Troubles at West Point, 257. 
Truefitt, Major, loi. 

Upton, John, i. 

Upton, Daniel, 2. 

Upton, Electa, i. 

Upton, Sara, 466, 469, 474, 494. 

Upton, Maria, 12. 

Van Horn, Captain J. J., 194, 

1 96. 
Van Voast, Major James, 206. 
Vincent, Captain, 52. 



Index. 



511 



Walker, Mr., 359. 
Warren's corps, 103. 
Weed, General, 74, 
Weibeck, Lieutenant-Colonel, 103. 
Wilkes, Admiral, 59. 
Williams, Captain Robert, 52. 
Williams, Cornelia, 217. 
Wilson, General J. H., 125, 130- 
138, 141-159. 173- 176, 177- 



Winchester, battle of, 124. 
Winslow, General E. F., 132, 151, 

157, 160-170. 
Wright, General H. G., 75, 102, 

114, 120. 

Yorke, Colonel, 344. 
Young, Captain, 166. 
Young, Colonel, 151. 



THE END. 



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